Trigger
by Aki no Usagi
Summary: Kirishima might not realize it before, but when he does he just couldn't hold back his feelings anymore. On the other hand, Bakugou struggled to figure out his mind and kept on giving Kirishima a cold shoulder. Kirishima wouldn't mind waiting for Bakugou to be ready for a relationship. But what if one day the redhead stopped waiting?
1. Chapter 1

**Author's note** : First fic for the fandom, please enjoy~

 **Pairing(s)** : Kirishima x Bakugou

 **Warning** : Yaoi(boyxboy), grammar and spelling errors

 **Disclaimer** : I don't own BnHA/MHA

* * *

A redhead yawned loudly before looking at a clock hanging on the wall above the blackboard. 04.53 p.m. He then shifted his also red eyes back to the boy sitting across him.

"Hey, shouldn't we head home now?"

Another pair of red orbs met the redhead's as a blonde boy lifted his face from the paper he was holding. He knitted his brows together and scoffed, "What the fuck, Kirishima?"

The redhead called Kirishima Eijirou answered, "Haven't I done all the questions already? We're done here, aren't we?"

"What's with the confidence? Yer gonna redo everything if I found a mistake."

Kirishima hunched over the desk between he and the blondie while whining. "Oh c'mon, Bakugou! It's getting dark outside."

"Shut up. You ain't a chick. Don't be scared of a lil' dark." Bakugou turned his gaze back to the answer sheet of Kirishima's on his hand. Started checking on it. "And you're the one who asked me to tutor you, so don't fucking complain now."

"I know, but I'm hungry now. And I'm kinda tired with all the training today. Let's grab a bite then go home!"

Bakugou heard the redhead, but chose to ignore him. He's trying to focus on the correction. Whilst the redhead tried to get his attention.

"Hey, are you listening? Bakugou?" Kirishima tilted his head and called out.

No response from the blondie.

"Ba-ku-go-u-kun~" Kirishima tried harder, Continuously, until the said boy finally snapped.

"Argh! Shut the fuck up, will ya?!" Bakugou smacked the paper on the desk. "I'm hurrying it up now so you can get your pathetic ass outta here and feed your damn stomach. Don't fuckin' bother me yet!"

The redhead was stunned at first, but then his lips curled into a bright smile. "Aw, really? Thanks, man!"

Bakugou only snorted before he went back to the paper again.

Kirishima lifted his head from the desk and rested his chin on the back of his hand. Quietly staring at Bakugou Katsuki in front of him.

The class rankings were announced just few days ago. And it turned out that Bakugou Katsuki—the (probably) biggest troublemaker of UA's class 1-A—actually ranked third. Seeing the apparently-first-ranked Yaoyorozu willing to tutor bunch of their classmates, Kirishima found the perfect reason to provocate his punk friend into tutoring as well.

For the personality Bakugou has, Kirishima knew he'd fall for that. Or rather accepted the 'challenge'—as the blondie prefered this term. So there they're now. Staying in the classroom after school, reviewing for the lesson that day. Just the two of them. Because Kaminari wouldn't risk getting yelled brutally by the grumpy blondie if he did something wrong, and Sero decided to just go along with him. Kirishima had no other choice but spend the rest of the day only with Bakugou.

But the redhead doesn't mind. He loves it, instead. He truly enjoyed their time together even if all they've done is studying. Bakugou Katsuki is never a friendly one to hang out with. Not with his explosive personality. Kirishima realized that, but it never affected him. He's attracted to that certain personality to boot.

Everything about Bakugou is just perfect for Kirishima. Hell, he even looks hot for a guy in the redhead's eyes. Kirishima always called the blondie his 'bro' without the boy's consent. But at this rate, he might started developing something else towards his friend. Whenever the thought came to mind, Kirishima would always brush it off since somewhere in his heart tells him that it's wrong.

Though he just can't stop himself from thinking about Bakugou. Especially when he's staring daggers on the boy like now. His red eyes would unconsciously landed on Bakugou's lips. Wondering about how it'd feel on his own. Would it be firm? Or unexpectedly soft? The redhead knew that he shouldn't be having all those indecent thoughts when Bakugou is sitting there, so earnestly trying to help with his studies. Okay, maybe 'earnest' isn't a suitable word since the blonde boy was half-forced to tutor Kirishima. But still, it's quite a rare occasion for him to play along this far.

At some point of Kirishima's staring, Bakugou notices as he looked up. Saying nothing but stared back at the redhead. Somehow Bakugou didn't bark out, "The fuck you're staring at?" like he usually does. He just started a staring contest with Kirishima for an unknown amount of time. Then Kirishima leaned forward. Bringing their faces closer.

When the distance between them left only a few centimetres, Kirihima's mind went blank. He couldn't think of anything except that he wanted to kiss Bakugou. Really badly it hurts. So he did.

Kirishima slowly pressed his lips against Bakugou's. Neither of them averted their gazes from each other. They stayed still for a few seconds.

Then Bakugou, struck by a sudden realization, widened his eyes in horror. He harshly pushed away the redhead and covered his lips with the back of his palm. His face was bright red as he grumbled, "What the fuck?!"

"Umm... No! That was just—"

Bakugou didn't even wait for Kirishima's explanation. He stood up, looked around, and started packing up his stuff hurriedly. The blonde boy was about to run off when Kirishima stood up as well and grabbed his wrist. Preventing him from leaving.

"Wait, Bakugou!"

"Let go, you bastard!" he quickly shook off Kirishima's hand.

"But—" Kirishima stepped forward. Trying to reason with Bakugou, just to be stopped by the latter himself.

"Shut up! And don't you dare come near me!" Bakugou sent the redhead a glare before storming out of the classroom. Leaving Kirishima all alone in silence.

The redhead crouched down on the floor. Sighed heavily as he facepalmed himself. Heat started creeping up on his face and soon it turned the same bright red as Bakugou's. At that very moment, Kirishima Eijirou realized that he was in love.

"Oh shit,"

=====Aki no Usagi=====

* * *

Thank you for reading~ I honestly do not know if I should continue this? I have planned to but it really depends on my inspiration. So I hope I can safely finish this. Both positive and negative reviews are more than welcomed. Please don't hold back on me. Thank you for your patience~


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's note** : First fic for the fandom, please enjoy~

 **Pairing(s)** : Kirishima x Bakugou

 **Warning** : Yaoi(boyxboy), grammar and spelling errors

 **Disclaimer** : I don't own BnHA/MHA

* * *

Bakugou dashed out of the school as fast as possible with loud stomping. He might have bumped into someone on the way. And people might have stared at him weirdly since he was still beet red all over his face. But Bakugou couldn't care less. His mind was filled with nothing but a certain redhead.

Before he could realize it, the blonde boy had arrived in front of his own house. He was busy cursing under his breath. Didn't even look at the street properly. It's a miracle actually that he made his way home safely. But Bakugou wouldn't call it that. He was confident enough in himself that he would have made it without the help of th so-called 'miracle'.

A woman in her thirties came out of the front door of the Bakugou's. Same ash blonde hair and red eyes as Bakugou. She looked so identical with the boy as if they were created from the same mould. Except for the difference in gender and age.

"Oh, hey punk! Yer late today. What's up?" said the woman in the exact same manners as Bakugou Katsuki.

Katsuki looked up. He was suddenly reminded of what had happened earlier in the classroom when the question registered his mind. His face could turn red again, but he managed to suppress it somehow.

"It's nothing, old hag! Don't bother to ask!"

That was the usual conversation between them. Well, it wasn't exactly normal for a mother and son, but at least it wasn't something outrageous in the Bakugou family. Yet Katsuki himself added more emotion in his words as the current state of his mind had made him to do so. Which for god-knows-why reason was noticed by his mother, Bakugou Mitsuki.

"Hey, fuckin' brat! What's with the attitude?" Mitsuki grabbed the boy by the back of his shirt collar when Katsuki tried to walk past her.

"What the hell, bitch?! Let go!" Katsuki screamed as he struggled to free himself from her.

"No fucking way! Not until I beat the shit outta you for yer attitude!" Mitsuki shouted back as a response.

A smack landed on Katsuki's head as soon as Mitsuki finished talking.

"Ow! Quit hittin' me, you ugly bitch!" he shielded his head with a hand in case Mitsuki decided to land another hit.

"Shut up, asshole! Fucking answer your parents properly when yer asked something!"

Katsuki was about to exclaim back when the front door opened again in a creak. Showing a man in his fourties standing there by the door. A worried look plastered on his face.

Both the mother and the son turned to the newcomer. Then simultaneously barked, "What?"

The light-haired man break in sweat, then awkwardly uttered, "C'mon, you two... Stop yelling like that in front of the house. You're bothering the neighbour."

"Who gives a fuck?" Katsuki hissed. Letting his guard down for a moment just to regret it immediately. Mitsuki smacked him again on the head once his hand left the spot.

"Well, I do! Now get in the house, you piece of shit!" Mitsuki released her grip on the boy's shirt and proceeded to push him on the back. Trying to shove her son inside the house.

Unfortunately, Katsuki had inherited Mitsuki's genes way too much for him to obediently listen to his mother. Katsuki turned around, facing Mitsuki head on. "Cut it out already, friggin' old hag! Don't fucking order me around!"

"How about you shut the hell up already? I have the righ to order your pathetic ass around, so what?!"

The light-haired man, Bakugou Masaru, who's almost forgotten by the two, tried to speak up once again. "Now, you two really have to stop this―"

"Stay outta this, shitty dad!" Masaru was soon cut off by his own son without the chance of finishing his sentence.

Another smack. "That's why I told you to fucking watch your attitude, Katsuki!"

"You're one to talk, old hag!"

"Huh?! Don't you dare pickin' a fight with your mum!"

"You started this shit, bitch!"

"I'm just trying to discipline you, punk!"

The fight went on for a good half an hour. They finally stopped only when Masaru suggested pizza as a dinner. Since Mitsuki cancelled her shopping to start an argument with her son. And it's getting too late to start cooking then. Besides, argument takes up energy. Both of them were starving already and their stomach would have growled loudly to shut them up. If not for Masaru's interruption.

* * *

Katsuki laid on his bed, unmoving with his towel still around still around his neck after bath. His usual routine would have him do some work-out before bath, but he didn't for that day. Not because he's exhausted. Someone like Bakugou Katsuki doesn't get that easily tired just from a regular training at school, or from a daily argument thing with his mum. Just, he's not in the mood to. Yeah, that sounds about right.

As for the reason why, it's none other than _that_. That freakin' kiss from Kirishima Eijirou, the hair-for-brain bastard. Deep down inside, Katsuki is aware that he shouldn't fuss over petty things such as kisses. (Well, doesn't mean that people could do as they like.) Though he just couldn't help but think about it.

Katsuki is actually relieved that he argued with his mom earlier. At least it kinda helped distracting him from thinking too much about the incident. Too bad for him though, once he calmed down, the thought gradually came back to mind.

What was that about, he wondered. Why'd the bastard kiss him? Is Kirishima gay or something? Well, Katsuki ain't have any problem with homosexual people. Or rather he doesn't give a shit about what others' sexual interests are. Why should he even cares about what people get it up for? It's their own damn business.

The real question is, why him? Why not the others? There're plenty of dudes around for Kirishima to pick. The pikachu, soy sauce face, hell there's even the good-looking half-and-half bastard, Todoroki Shouto for fuck's sake. Class 1-A has guys outnumbering girls. So, why the hell should it be Katsuki of all people?

What bothered him even more than Kirishima's choice was his own feelings toward the kiss. Normally any guy would be disgusted. Katsuki might be an exception for that since he gives no shit about homos. His was a totally different feelings. Then he was suddenly reminded of a similar incident happened in the past.

There was a girl named Shiratori in middle school who was pretty close to him. Some courage she had. If Katsuki were to compare, she's just one-level below Ashido Mina, the black-eyes, for being energetic. And fucking loud of course.

Katsuki's mostly annoyed by her clinging around, but didn't really feel the necessity to shove her away. He admitted that he was getting quite comfortable around her, when something happened and everything changed. Apparently she thought that she was at a safe enough distance already. So she tried to take a step forward and kissed Katsuki.

In that instance, the comfort zone he thought he was in, disappeared immediately. He was really pissed off. Was mad. For her action. Because he thought that she had infiltrated his personal space. She had crossed the line Katsuki had yet to allow her to do. More like would never allow her to now that she had done it without his consent. Maybe, just maybe, if she had waited for long enough, things would be different.

His reaction was priceless. He pushed her away, spouting tons of hurtful words. Pretty much rejected her harshly. Of course that did a toll on her to the point she stopped talking to Katsuki. Then in less than a month, she had moved away from their school in order to avoid him. That was one thing in Katsuki's life which he regretted. Though he wouldn't say it out loud. He was such a kid back then.

Katsuki swore that he almost did the same to Kirishima that day. But he didn't go as far. He wouldn't anyway. Not just because he has matured since then. But also because this time, he felt differently.

He didn't feel as worse as how he used to be. Instead, it was unexpectedly amusing. But he couldn't say for sure that he enjoyed it. Neither did he hate it. It's something in between.

Out of panic was the reason he ran away from Kirishima. And that was one of the lamest thing Katsuki had done. But what could he had done if he had stayed? History will just be repeated. Never in hell would he want to see that hurt face again. Not Kirishima's. He wouldn't want to wipe away that enchanting smile from the redhead's face. Uh, wait... did Katsuki just think of Kirishima's smile as 'enchanting'?! _No, no, no._ He must've gone nuts for thinking too much. What the hell? He doesn't look at Kirishima _that_ way. He doesn't look at _anyone_ that way.

"Argh!" Katsuki growled as he ruffled his hair in distress. He then sat up on his bed. Grabbed his phone which he tossed somewhere also on the bed. Turned it on and checked on his mails. Though he obviously knew that no one in particular would send him any. He still did it anyway. None, as expected. Not even a casual invitation from Kirishima to hang out.

Seconds later, Katsuki frowned in realization. Why was he thinking about hair-for-brain bastard again? Fuck, what's gotten into him?

To clear his mind, the boy decided to maybe do some work-out after all. But first, he needed water. So he went downstairs and headed towards the kitchen. Just a few steps away, when Katsuki overheard his parents' conversation.

"I know he's wrong, Mitsuki. But, you shouldn't be too hard on Katsuki. He's still a growing teen." Said Masaru. Tone clearly in concern.

"Y'know, honey? I'm just tryin' to understand that little shit."

Katsuki's red orbs widened when he heard his mother's words.

"What do you mean?"

"Didn't you see that? He was clearly feeling down." Mitsuki sounded unusually calm.

"Well, all I see was him screaming his lungs out towards you?"

"I guess so, huh." Mitsuki chuckled. "But what I mean is before that. You see, our Katsuki doesn't talk much about himself. As a parent, I can get him more or less. Especially how he resembles me so much. Still, I can't understand him completely, can I?"

"Mitsuki..."

"I know it ain't easy for a teenage boy with such ego like him to tell us things. Even so, I'd want him to at least talk to us when he's troubled. It's not healthy for his growth either if he always kept it by himself."

"So, you're just worried about our son, aren't you?"

Mitsuki sighed. "What else can I say if not for that?"

Katsuki turned his heel away from the kitchen. Went down the corridor to the _genkan_ of his house. Picked up his pair of Nike's shoes from the shelves, put them on before exiting through the front door. He had decided to go for a run instead.

Was he really that easy to read? Or it's just his mom and her so-called motherly instinct? Well, either of them is awful though. He shouldn't be hindered by that kinda thing. If even his mother's gonna get worried of him, then Katsuki better got over it quickly.

* * *

"Damn it... I messed up real badly!"

Kaminari Denki turned his head to the redhead sitting beside him. "What's wrong, dude?"

The redhead lifted his head from the table. He looked at his friend, then darted his eyes to the window right in front of him. "Kaminari..."

"Yeah?" the latter had his attention back to the cheese burger on his hand. And was about to munch on it when Kirishima Eijirou's next words stopped him.

"I think I'm in love." Some shade of pink was tinted on his face.

"Whaaat?"

"And I messed it up."

Kaminari was still at a loss of words. Much less forming a sentence, he didn't even know from where should he start asking. Fortunately, Sero Hanta came in time to keep the conversation flowing.

"You messed what up?"

Both Kaminari and Kirishima turned to the source of the voice that came from behind the redhead. The dark-haired boy who came with a tray contained some fries and drink then took the unoccupied seat on Kirishima's right. On the bar table facing the large window.

Kirishima who was supposed to be with Bakugou all day that day, somehow contacted Kaminari around 15 minutes ago. Asked if he could meet up with Kaminari and Sero. Both of them were heading to McD's anyway, so they agreed.

The blond-haired boy was kinda puzzled when he got a text from Kirishima. As far as he'd known, that one friend of his is really fond of Bakugou Katsuki more than anyone. Kirishima might not have said it aloud, but Kaminari ain't that much of an idiot either. He, and probably Sero also, had an idea about the closeness between those two. They had knew all along about Kirishima being gay, so it's not much of a surprise. (Though Kaminari was a bit grossed out at first, he decided to just accept it regardlessly.) The only thing worth to be questioned was the redhead's taste. Who could have guessed that Kirishima Eijirou has such unusual preference?

Kaminari had wondered why would that Kirishima leave Bakugou behind. But now, everything's cleared. Shit happened between him and the guy he likes. So naturally, he'd come to discuss it with his buddies. In this term, Kaminari's pretty grateful of Kirishima's honesty and how he doesn't keep things from his friends. Though it still sorta surprised him when the redhead confessed out of the blue.

"Things between us." Was the only thing Kirishima gave as an answer.

Sero looked at Kaminari over Kirishima's head and asked, "Who?" The dark-haired boy soon nodded in understanding after Kaminari whispered Bakugou's name. He then turned back to the redhead. "What exactly happened?"

Kirishima gazed upwards, then answered awkwardly, "I kissed them..."

Kaminari literally sprayed out the cola he just drank. Wiped it off quickly with the napkin provided along with his set meal. Then exclaimed, "What on earth were you doing? I thought you guys are studying?!"

"Eh, how'd you know?" the redhead looked at his friend questioningly.

"Ah," Kaminari covered his mouth right away with one available hand. He glanced at Sero who gave him a funny look.

Right, Kirishima never told them about Bakugou. Heck, he might not even realize his own feelings all this time. And both Kaminari and Sero who've seen it all couldn't just point it out, so they managed to shut up about it. Maybe waited 'til Kirishima feel like talking someday.

But somehow Kaminari ruined his own hardwork and revealed it right before Kirishima do it himself. He's full aware that he shouldn't have, but things can't be undone. Seeing no way to turn back anymore, the blond boy gave up.

"Sorry, bro. The fact is that, we knew it all along."

"About... what?"

"That you've been crushing on Bakugou." Sero continued bluntly. Didn't even try to make the situation less awkward.

Kirshima's eyes widened in shock at the same time when his face turned almost as red as his hair. "For real, bros?"

"Yeah! You're quite the open book, see?" said the dark-haired boy as he snickered teasingly. Showing his noticeably straight teeth.

"What? How―err, I mean since when did you notice it?" Kirishima asked hastily.

"Since you first started clinging to him." Kaminari shifted his golden eyes to Sero. "When was that?"

"Around after the incident at U.S.J, I guess?"

Kirishima's jaw dropped in disbelief. "Oh my god... I've only figured it out like recently. You guys are amazing."

"Nah, it ain't us that's amazing. You're just dense when it comes to your own problem." Kaminari sighed as he waved his hand in the air.

"Really?" the redhead muttered to himself.

"So, what's so bad about the kiss?"

Both Kaminari and Kirishima almost forgot what they were on about if not for Sero's reminder.

"That..." Kirishima scratched his cheeks. "Bakugou seemed to really hate it."

Kaminari knitted his brows together. "Well, isn't that obvious? I mean, he's probably not gay after all?"

"I can understand if that's the case, but it seemed different?"

"How so?" Sero added.

Kirishima hesitated for a moment, but then decided to just spit it out after all. "I'm not that sure, okay? But I could like see it in his eyes that he's thinking of something else. Something deeper."

Kaminari and Sero looked at each other past the redhead's shoulder. Couldn't decide what to say as a response. They were silenced for a few seconds before Kaminari decided to step out first.

"Maybe you're just reading too much into it."

"Yeah, Bakugou might just be confused."

"You guys really think so?"

Kaminari nodded. "Isn't it unnatural though? To think so much in a split of second?"

"Well, you might be true..."

"Right? Don't worry. I'm sure he won't hate ya!" Sero patted the redhead on the back as an attempt to cheer him up.

The frown on Kirishima's forehead soon unwounded itself, replaced by a faint smile formed on his lips. "I guess you're right. Anyway, thanks for listening, guys!"

"Oh, shut it. What're bros for? To notice even a tiny bit changes when you don't even realize it yourself."

"Kaminari...!" Kirishima's red eyes glowed dramatically.

"Isn't that more like lovers tho?" Sero just had to ruin the mood whenever Kaminari's trying to sound cool. That earned him a glare from the blond boy. And Kaminari also swored internally that he's gonna beat Sero one day for that.

But Kirishima laughed about it nonetheless, so Kaminari's gonna let it slide this once. At least the redhead had put his usual refreshing wide smile back on. Kirishima being down was just too awful to watch.

"I hope you guys make up soon." Said Kaminari lastly.

"Yeah, thanks bro!"

=====Aki no Usagi=====

* * *

As usual, any comments are welcomed. So feel free to do so~


	3. Misunderstanding & Circumstances

Kirishima lifted his head as soon as the sound of door sliding was heard. Jirou Kyouka entered the class. Seeing that, the redhead looked back down. Sighing heavily.

 _It's not him._

Kirishima had been like that the whole morning. He couldn't sleep well the last night, but somehow ended up coming to school earlier than usual. Had nothing better to do, so he stayed in the classroom. Waiting for his bros, Kaminari and Sero then shared some usual silly conversations. He couldn't enjoy the talk though. Since whenever he heard someone coming in the class, he's be really nervous. Expecting it to be Bakugou.

He wasn't quite sure if he wanted to see the blondie soon or not. Because he sighed in disappointment when the one entering wasn't Bakugou. But was also secretly relieved at the same time.

"Kiri~!"

The redhead turned his head to the voice. A short pink-haired girl was seen running towards him. Kirishima was still kinda half-conscious. Hence couldn't catch her in time when she tackled him. He then stumbled and fell on the floor along with the girl. Quite the awkward position they ended up in he could say.

"Ow..." The redhead groaned while rubbing the back of his head. "What's that for, Ashido?"

"Just trying to get your hype up, pal!" said Ashido Mina as she beamed a bright smile.

Kirishima gasped. Was he really that obvious? "It's not like I'm down or anything?" He tried to hide it regardless.

"Doesn't look like that to me though." Said Kaminari looking down at Kirishima with a smirk.

"Yeah, thinking about somebody, eh?" Sero added also with a smirk.

"What? Kiri, are you seeing someone?" Ashido was quick to catch that and screamed out the phrase for the whole class to hear.

Kirishima's eyes widened in shock. Didn't expect both of his friends to reveal it so casually. Did desperately try to cover Ashido's mouth before she started spreading it around. To no avail, of course. He was too late.

Given how friendly Kirishima's towards his classmates, they just wouldn't leave him alone after hearing that. A bunch of them started circling around him. Throwing various questions.

"For real, Kirishima?" Satou Rikidou asked.

"Who's the chick?" Mineta Minoru exclaimed dramatically.

"Is she anyone among us? Who, I wonder?" Hagakure Tooru excitedly yelled.

"Kirishima-chan's type. What kind of girl is she?" Asui Tsuyu curiously stated.

The redhead couldn't really catch every single one of them as he was too flustered at the moment. Thinking hard of how to get out of the situation when Iida Tenya came in the right time. He barged in the circle to put a stop to the commotion. One of the times Kirishima's grateful of Iida's existence as the class leader.

"Everybody, please lower your voices and refrain from blocking the hallway!" Iida was loud and clear. Everyone should have heard him perfectly. But, well, the topic about Kirishima's crush was much more interesting. Therefore, they completely ignored the class leader and went on.

Iida didn't give up as easily though. He continuosly tried to calm his classmates. Even Kirishima couldn't help but internally cheered for him. Not only because Iida might be his savior, but also because the effort he put in as the role of a class leader. That's really manly in Kirishima's opinion.

"Sensei is coming soon! Please get back to your seat, everyone!"

Too bad, any of them just wouldn't budge at all. They weren't even getting the redhead to answer anymore. They were just too absorbed in analysizing the topic. Neglecting the subject himself. Somehow the redhead had not gotten up from the floor. Was still sitting there with Ashido so closely in front of him. Which was, again pretty awkward to be seen. But it's nothing new for Kirishima since they're used to fooling around like that. Besides, everyone in the class saw what's happening, so no misunderstanding occured. Except for one person. And that caused Kirishima Eijirou to immediately regret not getting up sooner than later.

All the ruckus had prevented the redhead to pay any more attention to the door sliding. A boy with spiky ash blonde hair stepped in the classroom. Heading towards the crowd of his classmates and shouted. "Outta the way, you scums!"

Everyone―who didn't even stop for a breath when Iida Tenya so earnestly wasted his energy trying to calm them down―went silent in an instance. They were silenced so effortlessly by that certain voie they well. Since they heard it every day. They turned around and saw Bakugou Katsuki standing there. Putting on his usual grumpy look.

"I said," he started cracking his knuckles, producing a small explosion on his palm. "Outta the fucking way, bastards!"

The crowd automatically disbanded itself in order to avoid Bakugou's rage. Apparently they had gathered around on an aisle leading to the boy's seat.

Bakugou stepped forward to the opened path in front of him and was stopped again when he saw Kirishima and Ashido on the floor. His red eyes widened the same time as the redhead's did. Though barely anyone noticed it.

Kirishima hurriedly stood up and was trying to explain the situation, "Bakugou, this is―" when Ashido outpaced him.

"Baku~! You gotta hear this!" This time, the pink-haired girl ran towards Bakugou.

"What, bitch?"

"Kiri has a girl he likes!"

 _Oh, my god..._

Kirishima really wanted to dig a hole, then buried himself in there forever. He went after Ashido and once again, trying to straight things out. "No, Bakugou! That's not it!"

"Whaaat?" Ashido whined. "But, you were waiting―"

This time, Kirishima's reflexes worked just on time when she was going to run her mouth off redhead covered Ashido's mouth with his palm to shut her up.

"Like I said, it's nothing, really." Kirishima forced an awkward smile.

He was so caught up in himself, he almost failed to realize the expression on Bakugou's face. Kirishima couldn't believe what he'd seen. Bakugou was frowning. Red eyes widened in shock and looked almost teary. Suddenly, Kirishima felt his chest tightened. Guilt filling up his heart as he stared at the blondie in disbelief.

"Alright, everyone, go back to your seats. Homeroom is starting."

The sluggish voice of class 1-A's homeroom teacher, Aizawa Shouta interrupted. Left them no choice but to obediently get seated.

Throughout all the lessons in classroom that day, Kirishima kept glancing at his right diagonal, where Bakugou is seated. He just couldn't shake off the image of the blondie's face from his head. That last expression of Bakugou was something. Something he had never seen before. And wouldn't want to see again. Because, although it was kinda out of character, he seemed hurt.

But one thing for sure is that, he has to figure out the reason.

* * *

Was what the redhead thought he's gonna do. Though of course, he couldn't ask nothing if the target himself is desperately avoiding him. Kirishima had thought lunch break was his big chance, but Bakugou went and did something unbelieveable.

He suddenly settled himself in Midoriya Izuku's group which he usually would rather barf than joining them. It was a six-person table. Iida, Midoriya, and Todoroki was in a row. Then Asui and Uraraka Ochako in another. Leaving an empty seat beside the zero-gravity girl, exactly where Bakugou landed his ass on. Earning all the five's attention.

Uraraka and Midoriya gasped in surprise. Both Todoroki and Iida only looked up curiously while Asui turned her head and croaked once.

"Kacchan?" said the green-haired boy carefully.

"What, nerd?" Bakugou hissed. "You got a problem?"

"Uh, no... But―"

"Then shut the fuck up and eat your stuff!" As soon as he finished talking, the blondie started eating his own lunch. Cutting communication or even eye contact from the rest of the group.

Uraraka and Todoroki was about to voice out their complains. Both for Bakugou's rudeness, with slightly different reasons. The former for how he come and go as he pleases without even so much of a greeting. Whilst the latter for him speaking to Midoriya in a crude manner, like how he always does. But Todoroki just couldn't sit still. Fortunately Midoriya was there to stop those two. Before the possibility of a fight between two class 1-A's strongests (plus Uraraka) occured there. He somehow convinced the two to sit still and say nothing through gestures.

The atmosphere was pretty heavy around their table the whole lunch. Even Asui who's always blurted out whatever it is in her mind, didn't say anything. She might be choosing to observe the situation better first.

Kirishima looked at the table Bakugou was in from afar. It's become an every day thing to have Bakugou with him during lunch. He couldn't get used to not having the blondie around anymore.

At some point of time, a certain BakuSquad was kinda formed consisting of course Kirishima, Kaminari, Sero, and Ashido. Hagakure wasn't really in the group, but she'd often hang out with them and such. The so-called BakuSquad is obviously, centered around Bakugou Katsuki and sort of unofficially led by Kirishima.

The BakuSquad was more than anyone else in the class, daring to tease or even pick on Bakugou. At first, Kaminari wasn't really into it since he was quite scared of Bakugou's personality and such. But now, he seems to be over it already. For Sero and Ashido, they probably just tagged along for fun then ended up forming a circle that goes by the infamous BakuSquad.

Well, nothing's better than having your bros get along, so Kirishima's cool with how things were. But now that Kirishima Eijirou went and did something unforgiveable enough for the blondie to avoid him. For the mighty Bakugou Katsuki to feel the need to avoid someone. He knew he was done for.

"Does he hate it that much?" said the redhead unconsciously thinking out loud.

"What? The kiss?" blurted Kaminari. Seconds later he gasped in realization. "Oh, gosh... Sorry, dude!"

"Kiss? Oh my god, what's this, Kiri? You have gone as far as kissing?!" Ashido squealed so loud as soon as the words registered her mind.

"Pipe down, Ashido!" Kirishima's thankful for how crowded and noisy the school cafeteria is, but Ashido Mina really needs to control her voice one of these days.

The pink-haired girl covered her own mouth as she grinned apologetically, then continued in a lower voice. "So, is that true, Kiri?"

"Once again, sorry bro!" uttered Kaminari. A bead of cold sweats flowing down his forehead.

Kirishima laughed it off casually. "Well it's okay, I guess? Not much of a secret actually. I just don't wanna have him heard us talking about this so loudly."

"Wait, Kirishima-kun, did you say 'him'?" Hagakure pointed out.

"Really, Tooru? You didn't hear that wrong?" asked Ashido as she turned to her invisible friend.

"I didn't! I heard that crystal clear!" exclaimed Hagakure. "Confirmation please, Kirishima-kun?"

"Haha, I did."

Hagakure clapped her hands excitedly. "See, I wasn't wrong!"

"Didn't know you're into boys, Kiri!"

"Sorry if I'm grossing you girls out tho."

"C'mon, pal! It's totally okay~" said Ashido.

"Yeah, we're cool with it! If anything, we even find it sweet. Right, Mina-chan?"

"Yepp! Besides, we are kinda expecting it anyway." The pink-haired girl raised a thumb as she winked.

Sero, who's been silent the whole time, couldn't help but felt impressed. "You girls are pretty amazing. Even Kaminari needed time to process that."

"They're just carefree, that's all." While Kaminari himself only snorted at the girls. He leaned back on his chair. Started draining his box of orange juice. "By the way, why do you only mention me, Sero? You did too, didn't you?"

"Well, I didn't take the time as long as you do." Replied the dark-haired male with a wide smile.

Kirishima looked at his friends. Then showed his trademark shark-like teeth with a beam. "I'm so moved to hear that. Thanks for being accepting, guys!"

"Aww, finally a genuine smile ever since this morning!" teased Hagakure.

"Ahaha... sorry for making you guys worry. Anyway, what do you mean by you're 'expecting' it?"

The girls looked at each other (Even though it's more like just Ashido looking at Hagakure since one can't be so sure if the invisible girl looked back). Then turned their attention back to the redhead.

"Well," Ashido started. "You know, Kiri. You're really nice."

"Towards everybody. Especially girls. We take that as you respecting us."

"Uh... yeah, I do?"

"But that's it." Hagakure crossed her arms as she explained. "That's the limit of the attention you gave us. You respect girls, bur not necessary attracted to them. So we kinda assumed that you might be gay."

"You figured that out? Gosh, how?" Kirishima blinked in disbelief.

"Who knows? Women's intuition is working?" stated the invisible girl as she chuckled.

"We could see it, Kiri! The difference when we compare you to Kaminari or Mineta." Added Ashido.

"Hey, why'd you bring up my name there?" the said blonde boy jerked up at the mention of his own name.

"She's probably trying to point out how much of a perv you are, lol!" Sero guffawed as soon as he finished his sentence.

"You get it, Sero!" Ashido then gave the dark-haired male a high-five and laughed along.

"What's with the sudden cooperation, you two?"

The three carried on joking around whilst Kirishima watched them from the sidelines with a faint smile. Sure, his mood has gotten better, but he still couldn't bring himself to laugh with them when he's reminded of Bakugou's hurt expression again.

"So, I was wondering, Kirishima-kun."

"Y-Yeah?" the redhead was brought back to his sense with his name mentioned.

"Is the lucky guy Bakugou-kun?"

The Red Riot's red eyes widened in shock. "Wha―How?!"

"Eh? It's Baku?"

"Holy shit! Hagakure, you figured out even that?" Kirishima bursted out dramatically.

They could hear the invisible girl clapping her hands again. "Oh my, I'm right again!"

"No, no, wait! Hagakure, are you a psychic? Is it possible that your quirk isn't just invisibility?" the redhead was kinda in a state where the name 'Bakugou Katsuki' is extremely sensitive for him.

"Calm down, man." Said Kaminari.

"Yeah, the girls are smarter than us, you see. No way that they don't notice the things even we do." Explained Sero before Kirishima lost his shit and started throwing tons of whys.

"Well, I don't?"

Everyone except Kirishima turned their heads to Ashido Mina, then simultaneously answered. "You're... just an airhead."

"So, guys."

"Yeah?" Now they shifted their attentions back to the redhead.

"How do I fix things with Baku?"

* * *

"Kacchan!"

Bakugou doesn't need to turn around to see who's following behind him. He knew that voice very well. Besides, there's no one other than a certain person who would still call him with the ridiculous childhood nickname. Midoriya Izuku.

Whatever the nerd was going to tell him, Bakugou doesn't care. He was honestly not in the mood for Midoriya's bullshit. So the blonde boy kept on walking without bothering to even look back. Practically ignoring his childhood friend.

The green-haired boy didn't give up though. He paced up until he's right behind Bakugou. Then placed a hand on Bakugou's left shoulder to stop him from walking away any further.

"Wait, Kacchan!"

The said boy clicked his tongue loudly before he shook Midoriya's hand away from his shoulder. Giving his childhood friend a sharp glare as he asked, "What the fuck, Deku?"

Midoriya flinched a little, but Bakugou's intimidating look doesn't seem to affect him as much as it used to be anymore. "Umm... can we talk for a sec?"

"No way. Now, fuck off." Bakugou tried to leave rightaway after the words were spoken. But, Midoriya, being the persistent little pest he is, had grabbed Bakugou's arm to prevent that. The blonde boy looked at Midoriya. Then, in a low voice, said. "Oi, let go."

"I won't." Replied Midoriya unwaveringly.

Bakugou could almost feel his vein popped in his head. Midoriya's getting more and more daring to talk back to him these days. It's not simply just annoying. He then finally snapped at the poor boy (It didn't take long though). "Deku, you piece of shit! What the hell is your problem?!"

"Like I said, Kacchan. I just want to talk."

"And I said no way, didn't I?"

"Yeah, but I still want to talk to you."

"Shitty Deku, I ain't in the mood for your crap. Now let go of me and scram before I make you to." Bakugou started threatening that childhood friend of his with the small action he always does. Cracking his knuckles and some small explosive on the palm.

"Why is that?"

"Huh?"

"Why are you in such a bad mood?"

"What...?"

Bakugou Katsuki has always been in a bad mood all year round. That's what people commonly think about him. Of course that's not true. Even someone like Bakugou, is a human nonetheless. There are times when he's happy and sad as well. Although not much of the people who knew him could tell what his current feelings are. His parents, especially his mother, Bakugou Mitsuki was proven to be able to. And anyone aside of his family who could do so is Midoriya Izuku.

Looking up to Bakugou who's a childhood friend of his, might have done the deed for Midoriya. He's been closely observing the blonde boy since they were little. Despite being clumsy and timid most of the time, Midoriya's pretty observant and attentive. Bakugou would never admit it openly, but among all of his 'friends', Midoriya knows him the best.

"Is it because of Kirishima-kun?"

Bakugou's pair of red orbs widened. He frantically grabbed the green-haired boy's face with his free hand. "Fucking nerd. Come with me." He nudged his chin to the direction of an empty classroom nearest to them in the hallway.

Midoriya's face paled as he nodded furiously. The poor boy was then, dragged and threwn in the room.

Bakugou closed the sliding door behind him. Keeping quiet in the process.

"Kacchan...?" Midoriya started cautiously.

The said teen lifted his head. Glaring daggers at Midoriya. "Who told you that?"

"About what...?"

"About what?!" barked Bakugou. "You have to ask that now, shithead?!"

"Are you talking about the thing with Kirishima=kun?"

"Who fucking told you this is about that guy?!" yelled the blonde male.

Bakugou kinda had it in mind that Kirishima might be spreading the thing he did to him the other day. Or at least the disgustingly so-called 'BakuSquad' would. But he didn't expect him to spill it for real. And to Midoriya for the worst. Doesn't really want that childhood friend of his poking his nose in Bakugou's problem unnecessarily.

"Uh..." the timid boy hesitated. "No one told me?"

The taller of the two gave Midoriya a bewildered look.

"I kinda figured you're avoiding Kirishima-kun and the others. So, am I right?"

"No! Yer wrong, bastard! This ain't about that hair-for-brain! And why on earth would I need to avoid someone?" Bakugou desperately denied. Face flustered with red color. Either fuming with rage or just purely embarassed.

The green-haired boy picked the second option. It was less likely to happen, but Midoriya believed in his knowledge about Bakugou Katsuki. He's confident he was right. Therefore, ignoring Bakugou's denial, he moved on. "What happened between you and Kirishima-kun, Kacchan?"

"I told you it's got no shit to do with him!"

"It's okay, Kacchan. You can tell me anything. I won't tell a soul." Pressed Midoriya

"Who cares if you go run yer mouth off? I ain't tellin' you anyway."

"But why not?"

Bakugou opened his mouth to yell at the shorter boy again when he was interrupted by someone coming in the room. The sliding door was slammed open revealing another boy around their age with half-white and half-red hair there.

The look on his face was that of a worried. He was breathless. From running around, Bakugou guessed. He looked at both of them, then approached the two with big, hasty steps.

"What do you want with Midoriya?" asked the newcomer with a low pitch as he stood between Bakugou and Midoriya.

"Huh?!" Bakugou could again, feel his vein popped somewhere in his head.

The green-haired boy panicked a bit upon seeing the newcomer's misunderstanding. He tried to clear things up before it got worse. "T-Todoroki-kun! It-It's not like that!"

Todoroki Shouto looked at the timid boy behind him and said, "Don't worry, Midoriya. I won't let him mess with you."

The half-and-half bastard was getting carried away by himself. Thinking he's a prince in shining armor coming for a rescue to his princess, eh? Bakugou wouldn't let him have his way. Besides if anything, the blondie's the one who needed help anyway. Though he'd rather die than asking for one.

"Hey, shitty halfie! What's that just now?"

Todoroki turned his head back to face Bakugou. "What? I'm not wrong, aren't I? Do you think you can always bully Midoriya whenever you want?"

Now Bakugou became the antagonist even though Deku was the one who started this shit. Well, okay, whatever. If Todoroki's picking a fight with him, he's always on.

A smug grin started to form on the corner of Bakugou's lip. "I was going to let you take that little pest away, but now I changed my mind. I'm beating you up to a pulp first."

"Only if you can win against me." stated the halfie. Clearly declaring a war. Red flames started appearing and covered the right side of his body. While cold, white steam oozed out from his left side.

On the other hand, Bakugou was more than ready with explosions on both of his hand. Pretty big ones to boot. Black smoke slipping out from between his fingers filled the air.

Midoriya was so panicked in seeing both of them that he could barely spoke up. But he had to stop those two with all cost. "Todoroki-kun! Kacchan! Don't fight! Not here―uhh no! Don't fight at all!"

"Step aside, Midoriya. It's dangerous. Don't worry, it'll be over in a second."

"Yeah, of course, asshole. Since you're gonna be down soon."

Neither of them pay any mind to what the green-haired male said. They were so eager to start the battle already. To make up for the one that was cancelled halfway during UA's sports festival.

Todoroki and Midoriya were an item. It's common knowledge already in class 1-A. Basically everyone else knew about them. Even Bakugou. But things aren't going on well for those two. Their relationship wasn't going as smoothly as people think.

Just like how Midoriya knows him the best, it could also be the other way around. Bakugou knew that since they were young, Midoriya's as dense as brick. When it comes to stuff related to love that is. The blondie also knew all along that both Deku and halfie have the hots for each other, but fucking Deku didn't realize it. And blondie was the only one who sees that. Though he gave no shit about it.

So there Todoroki's. Trying so hard to get Midoriya to notice him. Being grossly overprotective towards that boy. That resulted in him antagonizing Bakugou, of course. He's been seeing the blondie as a hindrance for the progress of his relationship with Midoriya. Since Midoriya just wouldn't stop chasing after his admirable childhood friend.

"Save your breath for later, Bakugou. I'll be kind enough to give you time to beg for forgiveness after all."

"Funny to hear that, fuckface. I might even consider letting you lick my shoe as an apology when you're grovelling on the ground."

And so the heated battle started.


	4. A Long, and Fucking Tiring Day

Evening came. The classrooms were empty by then. Barely any shadow of young teens usually spread throughout the school was seen around the corridors. Except one certain room which was rather famous. Not only in the school itself, but also all around the town and even the country. It's of course, none other than UA's class 1-A.

There are only two young males seated in the room warmly lit by the setting sun. Two rows apart from each other, a piece of paper on each their desk. Two kind of scribbling sounds filled the room. One was calm, collected, and so light you could hardly notice when the tip of his pencil met the paper's surface. Another was rather harsh and rough, every time his pencil lands, it bumped with the desk, producing hurtful noises. Despite the differences, the speed of the two was painfully in sync. Neither one of them wished to be the last to finish whatever they're working on.

Every now and then, some low-key cursing coming from the blonde boy could be heard in the midst of his scribbling. Then the red and white haired boy would glance at his companion with questionable expression before turning back to his own paper. But they would not go further than that, much less striking a conversation to the other. They were planning to go through their whole detention staying that way, until one of them uncharacteristically broke the 'rules'.

Todoroki lifted his head, turned to Bakugou as he uttered, "Hey, Bakugou."

Only to be lashed by the still fuming with rage blondie. "What the fuck, you shitty half 'n half bastard? You want to taste one of my punches again?"

Todoroki paused. Seriously reconsidering if he should asked what he wanted to because to be perfectly honest, his classmate's attitude irritated him more than he usually does. The explosive boy didn't mean much for Todoroki. He didn't care about what Bakugou's problem is, why's he so damn angry for no reason or why's he so fixated on picking a fight with Midoriya and probably just whoever around him. The only thing Todoroki sees and respects about him was the fact that he could use his power to its fullest on every opponent without so much of a hesitation. The one thing Todoroki himself was still quite unsure of. Other than that, Bakugou holds nothing major in his life.

But everything changed when Todoroki felt that ache in his chest any guy his age would most likely experiences. He felt his cheeks on heat and his palms sweating even though he didn't use his fire side. Breathing is hard sometimes for no apparent reason. Even to the point that he's excited to go to school every morning. All of that happened when he's around one certain person. Midoriya Izuku.

Since then, he could not see Bakugou, who's the childhood friend of his crush, the same anymore. He is a threat—one that's not quite easy to ignore—to Todoroki. Todoroki didn't have any friends before, not to mention a childhood one. His childhood was not happy, cheerful, or even memorable. He didn't understand what childhood friends mean to Midoriya or anyone else. But one thing he knew for sure was that, Bakugou wasn't treating Midoriya right. That alone is unforgiveable already. Though putting all those aside, he's actually just jealous of how close they are.

Todoroki Shouto has like countless reasons not to butt in Bakugou's personal problem and leave him alone. However, at that moment, he'd like to blame Midoriya's busybody self that kind of rubbed off on him. Todoroki actually wanted to get along well with his classmates, and that includes Bakugou Katsuki, of course. For it is most likely the first time he had enjoyed being one part of a class. Besides, when Todoroki excited the room and meet Midoriya, the first question the green-haired male would ask after confirming Todoroki's well-being is definitely, "How's Kacchan?"

Rather than being clueless and let Midoriya go approach the angry boy again, Todoroki figured it would be better to ask beforehand.

A silent stare directed to Bakugou from the red and white-haired teen, before coming up with a 'clever' reply. "Well… I didn't get any of them though, since it wasn't a fistfight."

"Shut up, shit face! I know that!"

"Oh," Another pause. Conversation wasn't going smoothly between them. Not when Bakugou was so fixated on his own work and refused to face Todoroki. He didn't give up that easily though. "Hey, Bakugou."

"What the hell is your problem, asshole?! You've been fucking persistent." Whilst the blondie didn't even bat an eye to him as he answered.

"That's my line though."

"Huh?"

"What's your problem with Midoriya?"

It is weird enough that the mention of Midoriya Izuku's name actually caught the explosive boy's attention. Todoroki didn't know that despite all the 'abuse', what Bakugou truly feels about Midoriya. And he had a bad feeling about it.

The blonde teen stopped scribbling, turning his head to the other with a look of disgust. "Why is shitty Deku's name come up here?"

"Why," repeated Todoroki. "well, all _these_ happened in the first place because you bothered him."

"Fuck you, love-sick bastard! I did NOT bother Deku! He was the one picking a damn fight with me!"

"…what did you just call me?"

"Love-sick bastard? What? Ya got a problem with that?"

A visible blush could have appeared on Todoroki's cheek, but he somehow managed to supressed it. It was everything but a problem for letting Bakugou knows his crush on Midoriya actually. Maybe it was just the embarrassment from getting caught off guard that got to him, which resulted in a stupid denial coming out from his mouth.

Todoroki frowned a bit and said in a slightly annoyed tone without raising his voice "I am _not_ love-sick!"

Bakugou snorted. "Yeah, right. That sounded so fucking convincing from a dude who went on rampage over some shitty nerd."

"I told you, it's because you bothered Midoriya and I have had enough of that." Todoroki wasn't ready to give in.

"Oh, shut up, half 'n half bastard. Who the hell doesn't know yet that you're crushing on fucking Deku? It's so obvious that it's making me puke."

Another moment of silence. The original plan was getting words out of Bakugou, so why had things so unexpectedly turned that way? Todoroki somehow ended up on the receiving end of the 'attack'.

"Well… you're right." Said Todoroki, finally, as he cleared his throat.

"Tch." Bakugou went back to his paper. Apparently their pointless argument didn't interest him enough to prolong the conversation. But Todoroki still tried.

"Anyway, why were you bothering him?"

"Asshole! Were you listening at all? Deku. Was. The. One. Who. Started. It. Are we fucking clear?"

"That's why. What did he do to make you so mad?"

"Poking his nose into something none of his business. Just like what you are fucking trying to do right now."

"Oh, busted?" the red and white-haired sounded indifferent, despite that he actually felt maybe a tad bit impressed of how Bakugou figured that out.

"Seriously," the frown on Bakugou's forehead deepened. "Why do you guys even care?"

It was more of a statement than question, but Todoroki answered anyway, on Midoriya's behalf—and probably his too. "Because we're worried."

"Sounds made up."

Todoroki couldn't exactly give a comeback to that, so he just kept quiet and continued writing. Surprisingly though, before he tried another attempt, the blond initiate a conversation for the first time since they entered the room.

"Hey, halfie."

"…what?"

"…" the words seemed about to leave Bakugou's mouth when it got stuck in his throat. Then it came out as a murmur. "…you ever kissed the nerd?"

"Pardon?"

Evidently, repeating his words wasn't one of Bakugou's favourite thing to do. A hue of red spread throughout his cheeks as he slammed the table and exclaimed, "I said, have you ever fucking kissed that shitty nerd?"

Todoroki's monochrome orbs widened slightly, he could feel heat rising on his cheeks as well. This time he didn't make it in time to hide it. "K-Kiss, you say? W-Well, no, I haven't."

Again, why had the table turned against Todoroki.

A mocking grin instantly replaced the red on Bakugou's face. "Hah. Not even once? Just how lame are you?"

"Shut up, it's not like I don't want to…" said Todoroki while looking away.

"Why?"

"What?"

"Why do you want to?"

Todoroki turned his gaze back to Bakugou. A perplexed look on his face. "Isn't that obvious though?"

"What is?"

"Well, wanting to kiss somebody you like."

"Why is it obvious?"

Now, how did it became a sort of interrogation is beyond Todoroki. As clueless as he is, the red and white-haired still answered without fail.

"Because, uhh… you want to connect with them? Not just anybody would do. It has to be him."

Bakugou's hand didn't stop scribbling, neither did he make any comment as Todoroki finished talking, He looked down on his piece of paper, bangs covering his face and made it difficult for Todoroki to read his expression. Well, it's not like the latter is good at interpreting what's on people's mind through their expression anyway. It's funny how a conversation between those two constantly fell into silence in less than 5 minutes. On top of that, none of them felt bothered or uncomfortable by it.

Todoroki was seriously considering what could have triggered the blond to ask that kind of questions, when an idea struck him but he honestly wouldn't want to believe the certainty of it.

"Bakugou, could it be… you want to kiss Midoriya as well?!" It came out of his mouth spontaneously, however.

As bad as Todoroki's in reading people's expression, he could clearly see the look of disgust on his companion's face.

"What the fuck, halfie? Don't lump me in with your sorry ass, bastard." Then he added with a grumbled, "…besides, it's not the nerd."

Todoroki had never been so proud of himself before for actually catching that. "It's not Midoriya?" Then the confidence of pushing his luck and digging more about Bakugou rose up real high.

"Of fucking course, duh."

"So who is it?"

"None of your damn business."

"Are you crushing on someone too?"

"Shut up."

"Is it one-sided?"

"Screw you."

"Is it someone in our class?"

"Who cares?"

"Oh talking about our class, didn't this morning Kirishima said he's got one too? Someone he likes."

Bakugou suddenly stood up from his seat, making a loud sliding noises from his fiberglass chair. Snatching the paper he's done working on and started moving his feet towards the classroom door. "I'm outta here. See ya, bastard."

Todoroki watched him as he left and wondered to himself, "Am I really that horrible in making small talks?"

* * *

Pitch black was all Katsuki could see when he opened his eyes. He blinked a few times to get his eyes used to the darkness before finally recognizing where he was. He had passed out right away as soon as he got home and reached his bedroom that evening, without even bothered changing his clothes.

Katsuki groaned as he sat up on his bed, snatching the alarm clock on his bed stand along the way. He furiously squinted at the arrows on it, the shorter one pointing somewhere between 7 and 8 while the longer was at a little past 6. Then he got up on his feet to head towards the washroom.

A few minutes later, Katsuki was on his way to the dining room when he saw a figure of the person he wanted to see the least at the moment. Well, more like all the time, actually. A flock of green hair popped up from behind the couch of the Bakugou's living room. Katsuki didn't need to go around and see his face to identify Midoriya Izuku. Because who else in his life has that kind of nerdy hairstyle?

"Shitty Deku! Why the hell are you here?!"

The said teen flinched in surprise. He turned his head around so quickly that it might come off. "Kacchan! U-Uh… Hi, we meet again!"

The lamest greeting one could ever come up with, accompanied by a nervous laugh at the end of his sentence.

"You little… Who wants to fucking see you twice in a day." Katsuki was this close to jump at his childhood friend and give some good beatings—even though the poor boy didn't do anything wrong. He never does. His whole existence is pissing Katsuki off, that's all.

If only Mitsuki wasn't there to interrupt. "Dinner's ready, punks! Go wash yer hands and take a seat!"

Katsuki clicked his tongue and went away after letting Izuku off with only a dagger stare. That was the least he could do when the old hag's around.

Izuku visiting his home for dinner and such or the other way around is actually pretty common among them. Not only that they're childhood friends, but alas, both their mothers are on such good term that they would not stop leaving their only kids in the other's care whenever one of them is not available. Do they even realize that their children are fucking high schoolers that are capable of taking care of their damn self? Oh, Katsuki doesn't know about the loser Izuku, but he certainly could.

The rarest opportunity of Katsuki taking the seat next to his dad on dining table after grade school is when Izuku is around. Yes, he'd pull that sort of childish act from times to times just to avoid the nerd, even though it hardly changes the fact that they're still eating together. One of the dumbest things Katsuki'd do but refused to admit.

The Bakugou folks, being the considerate people they are, tried to make Izuku comfortable by holding up conversations with him during the meal. While their son on the other hand, was doing the complete opposite by glaring at him as he gulped down his own food with a remarkable speed.

Mitsuki scolded him a few times when it got too intense then their daily mini arguments would begin. There was nothing both Masaru and Izuku could do but laugh at their hilarious antics when they're on it. Everything went 'peacefully' like that until the bed news had been delivered.

"Izuku-kun, how about staying over tonight?" asked Mitsuki after receiving a phone call when they finished dinner.

"Ehh?!"

"What the fuck?!"

Said both of the teen simultaneously, whilst Masaru promptly got up, picked the dirty dishes and turned his heel to the kitchen as he smelled trouble approaching.

"Inko called and said that she might not make it home tonight with the heavy downpour outside, so she's asking if we could let you stay over."

"Uhh… it's okay! I can just go home!" the green-haired male quickly declined.

"Yeah, this asshole is fine by himself." Came another rare occasion of the younger blond agreeing with something his childhood friend said. Because everyone in the room should have already known who will have it worst by having Izuku in the house.

Though Katsuki's attempt wasn't working well, for he seemed to be forgotten that Bakugou Mitsuki does not reason with him.

"Okay, it's decided then. Bring out the extra futon to your room later, Katsuki."

"What? Why my room?"

"You're not going to be a heartless jerk and make Izuku-kun sleeps on the couch, are you? It's getting cold after all." questioned Mitsuki as if it's the most natural thing ever, which didn't appear to be acceptable for her son.

"As if I care if this little shit freeze to death! I'm not sharing spaces with him!" Katsuki turned to Izuku, giving him a hint in bold with his deadly stare to speak up as well.

"Don't go calling others little shit, you little shit! What did I teach you about fucking manners again?" the older blonde could have given him a smack, but she settled with just a yell from across the room.

"Shut up, old hag! Yer one to talk!"

Before the mother and the son started another quarrel again, Izuku decided to step in and voiced out his unpopular opinion. "A-Anyway, I didn't bring clothes to change, Ma'am. So I might as well just go home. Thank you for the offer."

The green-haired teen was getting ready to leave, but boy, was Mitsuki persistent? Her son wouldn't be that hard-headed of a person if she's not.

"Oh, relax. You can just wear Katsuki's. I'm sure he wouldn't mind."

Both teens couldn't help but left their mouth wide open dramatically. Katsuki didn't even hide how displeased he looked. Meanwhile Izuku, he might not want to imagine what'd happen to him that night.

 _Look at you and your fucking big mouth!_ and _Couldn't you find a better damn excuse, Deku?!_ were the messages Katsuki clearly threw at the other teen in his silent scowl.

The blond teen made it noticeably enough, Izuku would be a big idiot if he didn't catch it, though he made a wise decision to pay no mind to his friend for once. To avoid further dispute was the boy's intention.

However, Katsuki being the troublemaker he is, just wouldn't simply cooperate. He attempted to cancel the whole sleepover thing again before finally giving in involuntarily.

"Hey, I didn't agree to this, old hag!"

"Stop being such a pussy, Katsuki! You boys used to this all the time anyway."

Right before the younger blond could retort back, the voice of his father was heard from the kitchen and ended their pointless squabble.

"Mitsuki… can you come here for a sec?"

"Coming, hon~!" replied the said woman. She gave the last order before leaving the two teens. "Now, both of you go take a bath and sleep. No buts."

And that was how Katsuki winded up abandoned reviewing his notes since he couldn't concentrate with the nerd's constant mumbling right next to him. Now, Izuku had better not make a noise when Katsuki was trying to sleep or he'd really blow up that freckled face of his.

"Umm, Kacchan? Are you asleep?"

Yeah, right, as if anything's going right for Bakugou Katsuki the whole day today. He couldn't even comprehend how badly he wanted to do as he thought, but no, he'd hold back his punches or anything. Unless he wanted his mother to come and nag him again for fuck's sake.

He figured that by ignoring the other male, he might give up sooner or later. Realizing he was wrong afterward was too late though.

"I heard…" the shorter teen seemed to hesitate for a moment of what he was about to say. Probably wondering if it was a safe topic to bring up. "that you have someone you like?"

Katsuki internally cursed. At himself and at Todoroki Shouto. At Todoroki for having a big ass mouth and spouting unnecessary stuff. Mostly at himself for being a dumbass in the first place and needlessly trying to 'consult' with the bastard. He deeply regretted not threatening the halfie to shut his trap earlier.

Izuku just continued blabbering. He most likely knew that his childhood friend was purposely giving him the cold shoulder. "You know, I have one…"

 _I fucking know that. So what?_

"Even so, I still don't know much about love, you see." Izuku chuckled before adding. "But I at least know that if that person loves you back, it'll be the best thing ever. And I don't think I'll ever want to let them go."

The talk somehow caught a tiny bit of Katsuki's interest, so he decided to listen to whatever his childhood friend's trying to say.

"That's why, if there's a problem between us, we could talk it out and fix it together. Because I don't want to do stupid things and ruin our relationship. I realize that running away wouldn't solve the problem itself. Besides, I want to have faith in that person. If they don't like me, they wouldn't be there for me after all. Right, Kacchan?"

A pause.

He sounded all philosophical at one second and went back to his usual nerdish laughter at another. "W-Well, it's not like I've experienced those though. I don't even know if that person would actually like me. What am I saying? Haha…"

Katsuki was grateful that he's not meddlesome enough to the point of wanting to bash Izuku in the head and reveal Todoroki's feelings to him so those two would stop being annoying. Or else he'd got involved further between their relationships. Like he hadn't had enough of Todoroki antagonizing him for no apparent reason.

"Anyway,"

 _What the fuck, there's more?_

"Kacchan is smart, so you should understand what I mean, don't you?"

Katsuki waited, but there's no more coming from Izuku. He assumed the other boy fell asleep and when he's positive about it, the blond sit up on his bed. Staring down at Izuku who's sleeping on the futon on the floor facing the other way.

 _Shitty Deku, did he just call me stupid?_

Katsuki kicked him on the ass lightly.

 _Mind your own fucking business first before others'._

Another kick.

As the green-haired boy had said, Katsuki is smart enough to read between the lines that Izuku's trying to imply things between him and Kirishima. And he had the feeling that Izuku refrained himself from mentioning the redhead's name to avoid getting barked at by Katsuki again.

 _This busybody bastard…_

He's heard enough from both of the idiot couple that day. By now, he more or less got that Kirishima shouldn't be kissing him on the whim. He was well aware of how much Kirishima'd done for him and how he's always there for him whether when he wants it or not. He didn't quite get what the black-eyes said that morning though. But it didn't matter anymore and now he felt like an idiot for taking what she said seriously. He was a mess.

However, does that mean Katsuki's also in love with Kirishima? Deku made the speech like he does, but who would know his feelings better than himself. Katsuki was just not sure. Something even he couldn't believe himself.

First his mother, then Todoroki and now Deku of all people. Would these people stop sticking their noses into Katsuki's problem already? He could handle it just fine. No big deal at all. Well… maybe a little. But getting advices from those two late-bloomers, dude? Katsuki should really get himself together.

The blond teen grunted loudly before throwing himself back to the bed. In the end, the problem remained the same. Everything's just in his own freaking head. But now that it has cleared up some, maybe Katsuki'd stop ignoring Kirishima and try listening to him the next day.

Little did he know that something awaiting him was not what he had expected.

* * *

"Let's just forget the thing from the other day."

Bakugou's mind went blank. "What…?"

Kirishima added with a gawky laugh. "You know what I mean, haha. Just pretend it didn't happen."


	5. Closure?

omg this took me more than a month to finish. why am i like this... T^T  
anyway, WARNING : SLOW SUFFERING FOR Y'ALL (prolly haha)  
PLEASE SCRAM NOW IF YOU DON'T THINK YOU CAN HANDLE IT

Enjoy~

* * *

Bakugou arrived at school unusually early that day. Part of it was because he refused to walk to the school or even seen leaving the house together with Midoriya by anyone. Even if that means skipping a lap of his regular routine for the morning jog. Another was because of a certain redhead.

Bakugou insisted he's just giving the other a chance to explain and see what he had to say. Though somewhere in his heart, he clearly knew that he's maybe, just maybe, giving himself an opportunity as well to accept Kirishima's feelings. He knew it was sort of silly and that he'd appear to be impatient in seeing Kirishima Eijirou, which is why he's definitely in denial for that part.

However, no matter how early he's, there was no point to it if the awaited teen hadn't shown up. A big yawn interfered Bakugou's thought as he rested his chin on the back of his hand. Now he's just plain bored.

The blond took out his phone, swiping the screen back and forth until he decided on a blue bird icon and pressed it. He began scrolling through his twitter timeline with an unnatural speed, wasn't even paying attention to any of the post. Bakugou isn't exactly the type to be active on social media and the likes, but as one part of the so-called 'millennials', he'd at least have an account for whatever purpose of its existence is. His red eyes then coincidentally landed on a post by Kaminari Denki of some photos. He swore he didn't click on them for details when he saw a redhead in those.

「Sleepover with the squad! (･ω) 」

Was captioned on the post of 4 similar photos consisting Kaminari himself, Ashido, Sero and Kirishima. Bakugou glanced at the '8:36 PM' and the date of a day before below the post. For some reason, it pissed him off. He clicked his tongues in dismay before hitting the home icon and tossing his phone randomly on the desk.

How could that damn shitty hair have the leisure to hang out and have fun with the idiots while Bakugou's wracking his brain over stuff? And what's more? He didn't even invite Bakugou. No, it was not because he didn't want to be left out by the stupid gang or whatever. He simply couldn't cope with the fact that Kirishima didn't ask him out when he's usually so overly persistent in dragging Bakugou to join them. Bakugou avoiding him wasn't an excuse. Unreasonable? Yes, he's well aware and so be it. He is not Bakugou Katsuki for nothing after all.

It irritated the blond the more he thought about it. He leaned back on the seat, inserting his hands on his pocket while kicking the chair in front along with a loud, "Goddammit!" Startling some of his classmates in the room. But he couldn't care less.

Now that he thinks about it, Kirishima had tried quite a few of dumb ways in approaching Bakugou. It was pretty amusing actually. Maybe he's just a tad bit looking forward to what Kirishima would give a shot to next. Just like that, his mood was lightened in an instant. Unconsciously, a faint smile started to form on the edge of his lips.

The rest of his classmates gradually filled the empty seats in the class. Though he didn't pay attention to it, not until he saw Midoriya Izuku who sat right behind him marching closer and he threw a nasty look to the innocent boy. Noticing how time had passes, Bakugou turned his head around and saw Kirishima who had just arrived at his own seat.

 _Finally._

Their red orbs met. There was a really, really brief moment of awkward silence before the redhead placed down his bag and leapt to where Bakugou is, shouting, "Morning, Bakugou!"

A frown inserted the said teen's face. It was a bit of a letdown, Kirishima's action that is, but he hadn't seen the worse coming yet. Later on that day.

"…what?" The word left his mouth sounding weirdly. Like his throat was stuffed with years' amount of mucus. Like an old man's raspy voice that hadn't been speaking in decades. He was certainly not prepared for such a direct approach—which is supposed to be normal.

Kirishima stood kind of stiffly next to the sitting Bakugou. He stole a quick glance at the trio gathered around Kaminari's table that were raising thumbs at him.

Tension immediately left Bakugou's body. For a split second, the redhead was brimming with confidence, yet he turned out to be just as nervous. But he managed to get Bakugou's response right off the bat. At least that was worth praising?

"We need to talk!" stated Kirishima after getting himself together again. He was looking straight into Bakugou's eyes, leaving the other no choice but to comply.

Bakugou would claim that he has no soft spot for absolutely anything, though he probably wouldn't really mind if it's Kirishima with that unwavering look of his. It was pretty legit to say that his heart skipped a little beat witnessing that. Nevertheless, he kept the poker face on.

"…Fine." Said the blond as he slowly stood up, ready to go with Kirishima, just to be halted by the boy himself.

"E-Eh? Not… not now!"

"Huh?"

"L-Lunch break, I guess…?" Kirishima stuttered, scratching the back of his head and averting his gaze in the process.

"What the fuck?!" Habitually, the explosive boy held out his hand in ready stance to blow something up.

"Well then, see ya later, bud!" the redhead sprinted away as soon as he finished talking.

"Hey, fucking hair-for-br—"

Aizawa Shouta cutting Bakugou's line with his entrance afterwards totally didn't help at all. Grumpily, the teen had no other option but to properly get seated. He swore he's going to make Kirishima pay for that.

"Yo, shitty hair, let's eat _together_." Said Bakugou in an ever so comforting voice. A hand on his lunch tray, while the other on Kirishima's shoulder. His grip was not one to be made fun of. When Kirishima turned around, he could almost see the manifestation of a demon behind the smile plastered on Bakugou's face.

"Y-Yessir…" answered the redhead, shuddering in fear. He quietly surrendered to the nearest table guided by Bakugou, with the rest of the 'BakuSquad' in toes.

Bakugou was not going to let Kirishima ran away or made lame excuse anymore after the guy chickened out that morning. He had the nerve to get Bakugou all worked up then up and leave just like that. He certainly needed applause for that.

The blond didn't leave Kirishima out of his sight the whole time during lunch, then dragged him away as soon as the other put down his spoon and uttered, "Thanks for the food!" Their other 3 companions couldn't do anything but silently watch as they go. And maybe pray for Kirishima's well-being.

"So," Bakugou started, raising an eyebrow and arm crossed in front of his chest as he spoke. "spill it out."

Kirishima stared at his own feet and the floor as if they're much more interesting than the object before his eyes, which is Bakugou Katsuki. The blond waited. But it didn't last long. He was impatient. He was not going to waste another second anymore after gaining the resolve to hear things out from Kirishima.

"Oi, Kirishi—"

"I'm so sorry, Bakugou!" exclaimed the redhead with both his hands clapped in front of his face.

Fortunately, the other teen seemed to have made up his mind as well. Bakugou got his line cut off again, but he was not mad this time. Instead, he was utterly perplexed, yet it was nothing compared to the next thing he heard.

"Let's just forget the thing from the other day."

Bakugou's mind went blank for a moment. "What…?"

Kirishima added with a gawky laugh. "You know what I mean, haha. Just… pretend it didn't happen."

Red pupils of the blond widened in disbelief. He was tongue tied and couldn't process Kirishima's words well in his head. Or that he simply didn't want to accept it. Explanation. He needed a decent explanation before his head decided that he didn't hear it wrong or misinterpreted it.

"I… I didn't know that it would bother you that much. I mean, of course it would, huh? A random guy kissing you out of nowhere. So if you hate it to the point that you'd avoid me, then I think I should really apologize after all. Sorry for making you uncomfortable…" the redhead rambled on, but no. Those weren't what Bakugou wanted to hear. Those weren't what he hoped to come out from Kirishima's mouth.

Wait… Was Bakugou actually hoping for something? That couldn't be. Could it?

"…y?" Bakugou muttered under his breath.

"Eh?"

"Why did you do that in the first place?" _If you are just going to tell me to forget about it._

"Uh… well, j-just on the whim? It was… it was a mistake. It didn't mean anything, really."

 _On a whim? Mistake?_

An unknown source of pain invaded Bakugou's chest. He should be feeling relieved. All the stress building up from thinking about something petty that turned out to be no big deal after all had finally reach a closure. Sure, there was irritation. But more than anything, he should be feeling relieved. Yet what was with the discomfort he felt in his chest?

Well, he actually realized what it was.

"Oh… so that's it, huh?" Bakugou's voice was slightly shaking, though he doubted that Kirishima noticed it. So the teen quickly fixed it before adding with his normal tone. "Then say so from the start, you moron!"

Kirishima opened his mouth in response, but nothing was said. He seemed to be hindered by something in his mind, which in return, Bakugou failed to notice as well. Kirishima found his words back after a pause. He burst into a loud, apologetic laughter. That seemed pretty unnatural, truthfully. However, again, Bakugou didn't catch that. As he was preoccupied by how shaken he himself was.

"Yeah! Sorry, man!"

"Fuck you. Would you normally kiss a dude out of joke though."

"That's why! I told you I'm sorry!" More laughter. "Now that the misunderstanding's clear, we're still buddies, aren't we?"

"Right, whatever." Answered the blonde nonchalantly.

"Cool!" Kirishima beamed. "Let's go back to the class. Kaminari and the others might be worried since we're suddenly gone."

The redhead hastily turned his back to Bakugou. Before he started taking the lead and stepped away, Bakugou stopped him with a question that suddenly struck him.

"Hey, shitty hair…" Bakugou faltered for a second. Knowing there was nothing more to lose, he went for it. "Black-eyes said, there's a chick you like."

Kirishima looked dazed, then confirming in an unenthusiastic way. "Uh, yeah… there is."

"Someone I know?"

"Nah… you don't know them."

From his position, the blond could hardly see the other teen's expression, but judging from the tone of his voice, Kirishima didn't seem really keen to expand the topic. Given that, Bakugou figured he wouldn't pry deeper into it. Learning more was pointless anyway. It's not like it would make him feel better. Instead, it might just be worse.

"I see." The blond made it short since there's not really anything he could reply with.

"Then, let's get back?"

"Yeah," Bakugou didn't follow right after Kirishima started walking. He stood there and watched, with wistful eyes, the back of the redhead getting further and further away from him. _Ah, so this is how heartbroken feels._

* * *

The blond teen looked up to the vast sky above him. The weather was rather sunny that day, which hardly matched his mood at all. He tilted his head back down, emptily stared at the distance on his way home. The street instead, was unusually quiet, making it perfect for him as if to compensate for the weather.

At that very moment, Bakugou was internally fighting the will to laugh at himself. At his once in a lifetime idiocy. He already knew that he couldn't please and liked by everyone. Not that he wished for it anyway.

Yet, what was he expecting?

At some point, he started thinking—whether consciously or not—that at least Kirishima Eijirou alone would accept him and love him however he is. He was satisfied with just that. He was taking him for granted.

Bakugou clenched his fist. Holding back the tears that was about to slip down, but to no avail. A few droplets managed to escape from his red orbs, followed closely by a stream of it.

Now of all time, he finally realized that he had fallen in love with Kirishima. No, he might have an image of it already the moment they kissed, but was he a fool for strongly denying it? It had to take a harsh truth of the other had no whatsoever feelings toward him and it was all a massive misunderstanding on his side to finally recognize his own. And by the time he had a name for his feeling, it was all too late already.

It was him all along. The one who seeks for the other's attention. Yearns for the other's presence. But they are never more than friends. And never will be. For crying out loud, as smart as he is, Bakugou should have known that there's no way that Kirishima Eijirou, who is perfect in every way would think of him as a love opponent. He's strong, has wonderful personality, dazzling smile and loved by anyone he meets. He deserved someone better than Bakugou.

 _What the fuck?_

Bakugou furiously wiped away the tears all over his face with his sleeves, lifted his head when he's done and started stepping forward. He didn't work his ass off and come to UA to mope around like a loser over a heartbreak or two. Even after this, his goal had not change right from the start. He's going to be a top hero that surpassed All Might. In order to do that, he would even push down that feeling of his. He had to. He was a little distracted, but now's the time to get back on the saddle and paced toward that path of his.

As for Kirishima Eijirou, he should be delighted already to at least have a 'best friend' he could rely on.

* * *

The night before…

Kirishima shifted his gaze between his phone and the television screen back and forth. He knew fully well that it is foolish of him to be expecting a text from Bakugou Katsuki. Putting aside the fact that the blond doesn't even check his phone often—much less starting a chat with anyone, including Kirishima—Bakugou's clearly avoiding the redhead. As much as he would deny it, he's making it pretty obvious.

First of all, there's the lunch break. Bakugou initiatively joined Midoriya's table—which is most likely just because that was the nearest table with available seat. But still, he'd rather sit with 'Deku' than waited for Kirishima like he usually does?

After discussing it with his friends, Kirishima tried several attempts to approach Bakugou. And the result? He wouldn't be moping around and spacing out in Kaminari's room while everyone else was making a fuss over a match of Mario Kart, if any of them worked.

Sero recommended him to go with the casual way. Come at the blond teen naturally and find the chance to talk with him later. It sounded nice, but actually was the fastest way to get turn down. Bakugou uncharacteristically ran away right off the bat before Kirishima even finished shouting his name when they saw each other in the alleyway.

Kaminari is dumb. Everyone knows that. And Kirishima secretly thinks so as well, but would never say it out aloud, taking his buddy's feeling into consideration. What he didn't know was that even his idea was pretty dumb. Who'd even suggest passing notes or leaving one in Bakugou's locker if not for the infamous Chargebolt? Hagakure and Ashido laughed at him and stated that as a reason Kaminari isn't popular with girls. Though Kirishima tried it anyway, just to get his notes burned down by explosion of course.

Cornering and trapping the blond boy on the wall between Kirishima's arms so he would listen to the redhead properly. That wasn't worth trying. The girls came up with the most impossible mission. Either Kirishima'd have his face blown up before he started speaking or he'd stutter his words out of being nervous and got his face blown up anyway. Alas, the redhead already failed in the first step. Apparently they all forgot for a moment how agile Bakugou is.

"Hey, what's with the long face, dude?"

Kirishima turned to the source of the voice, to find a teen his age with dark hair put on a wide grin with his noticeably straight teeth. He then buried his face on the cushion he's been squeezing for a while now. "I don't even know anymore…"

"Bakugou again? He's a tough one, isn't he?" Kaminari pointed out, his attention still glued onto the TV screen and controller on his hand.

"But just the best when you get… HIM!" added Ashido with a little too much of excitement at the end of her sentence after outpacing Kaminari in the match. "Yeay! My victory!"

"Argh! What the hell? That's cheating, man!" whined the blond before continuing the conversation. "Is he really the best though?"

"You just sucks!" Ashido giggled. "Is he not?"

Kaminari put a hand on his chin in a thinking pose. "Well, I mean, wouldn't it be hard to cope with him if you started dating or something? Honestly, I'd rather go for the type that's cheerful and easy to talk to."

"That's just your own preference, isn't it?" the pink-haired girl sighed in mockery.

"Eh? I thought everyone likes that?"

"Nuh-uh."

"I would go for that though."

"Sero…! I know, right?!"

"It would be even better if they're a bit dumb." Said Sero playfully.

"What's with that?" Both laughed out loud and somehow lost sight of what their main subject was until Ashido Mina beat some senses back into them.

"You two! It's about Kiri though! Pay attention, won't you?" yelled her in annoyance.

Kaminari and Sero instantly fell into silence as they guiltily looked at each other, then at Kirishima.

"Sorry, bro~ I guess we got ahead of ourselves." Exclaimed Kaminari. He inched closer to the redhead and tackled him with a hug from the back.

"Yeah, sorry! All because of Denki-kun's stupid rambling." Sero added, which wasn't helping at all.

"Hey!"

"Haha, it's fine, guys! Sorry for making you worry. I really don't want to make things gloomy, you see? So, it's okay. Just leave me alone." Assured Kirishima with a strained smile that was not in the slightest convincing.

"What are you saying?" Ashido quickly protested. "We're always ready to help!"

"Yeah, dude."

"Now that I think about it," said Kaminari as he released his hug from the redhead. "What are you going to talk to Bakugou anyway?"

"Confession?! Are you going to confess?!" chirped Ashido.

"A confession out of the blue?!" Kirishima continued with mumbles. "I don't think I'm ready for that yet…"

"So what are you gonna do?"

"Well… I didn't really think about it, but there's something I wanna ask him. Though seeing Bakugou's reaction, I don't think the answer matters anymore." Devastation clearly heard in his tone.

"What do you mean?" Kaminari pried.

"I don't think he likes me…"

"You sure about that, dude?"

"Eh~? But I'm quite sure that Baku likes you back though~"

"No way…" denied Kirishima, as much as he wanted to believe those words as true. "Why would he desperately avoid me then? He probably hates me now. Even being a buddy is over, huh?"

Silence filled the room for a short brief before Ashido Mina threw herself on the redhead with a big embrace.

"Now, don't be so down, Kiri!"

Kirishima forced another strained smile on his face. It might not seemed sincere that way, but deep inside, Kirishima truly appreciated his friends' help and effort to cheer him up. To the point he felt bad for troubling them sometimes. "Thanks, guys. But I really don't know what to do anymore."

"How about pulling back though?"

All attention was directed to no one but Kaminari Denki in an instant. They gave him a puzzled look without saying anything, demanding him to elaborate.

Noticing that, the blond teen went on. "I mean, we don't know for sure what Bakugou might be feeling and none of our methods worked anyway. Since push doesn't work, why not trying pull back? Stop chasing him down and act normal. I think he'll stop avoiding you soon as well."

"…and then?" Sero asked instead of Kirishima.

"Hmm…" Kaminari paused. "Pretend that you don't have that kind of feelings toward him maybe?"

The only female of the group clapped her hands in understanding while the rest of the members were still left in maze. "Oh, are we 'playing hard to get'?"

"Uh, yeah… I guess."

"W-Wha…?" Kirishima stuttered.

"Okay, okay, lemme continue!" Ashido raised her voice in excitement. She was suddenly really into it. "If Baku feels the same way as you do, he'll definitely have a reaction when you pull back. But! If he doesn't act any differently, then too bad, sweetheart. He may not be the one for you." She shook her head dramatically

"Eh? Isn't that kinda unmanly though?" The question came out as if he's asking for them to convince him otherwise. Kirishima had doubt, but wasn't too quick to decide. He might be quite desperate too to actually consider the idea he'd normally turn down right away.

"That's the only way, Kiri!"

The redhead looked at Kaminari after Ashido, sort of seeking an answer to persuade himself.

"At least you can still be buddies again afterwards?"

Then he turned to Sero Hanta who hadn't been voicing out his opinion.

"Well, personally, I don't think that's a good idea. But, what Ashido and Kaminari said makes sense too."

Kaminari's statement made the offer ultimately tempting for Kirishima. He averted his gaze from his friends and got lost in his thought for what seemed like an hour—when in truth just took no more than 5 minutes. Kirishima had been stressing over this matter for sleepless nights. He was tired. He was tired of regretting the mistake he'd done. Of worrying what the person he likes thinks of him. Of looking for a way to mend their relationship.

If Kirishima had known how it was going to turn out, he'd rather not realize his feelings whatsoever right from the start. It would have been better if they stay as friends. He clenched his teeth tightly then slowly released them as he took a deep breath. His chest ached with the words spoken. "I guess… you're right."

* * *

 _This is for the best._

Kirishima paced up his steps. Faster and faster, until he started sprinting. Not even noticing that the other teen was not coming along with him and that he was not even heading to the classroom like he had originally planned to. The redhead ran into and locked himself in a toilet stall. The instant he slammed the door behind him, the tears welling up at the corner of his red eyes burst out uncontrollably as he slowly crouched down on the floor.

 _This is for the best._

He had had a clue that his love was unrequited and hopeless. He knew the other couldn't possibly like him back. He came up to Bakugou all prepared to be turn down. He had replayed the scene he imagined over and over in his head, but it was all in vain. When it came down to the real deal, Kirishima handled it much poorly than he thought he would. It hurt much more than he expected it would. It was so horrible that he himself was surprised Bakugou didn't say a word to it. The boy was far smarter than Kirishima is. There's no way Bakugou didn't see through him and his worthless lies.

No, no, no, he was sure he hid it pretty well. The blond teen wouldn't have known for he acted so normally. Or did he? Kirishima didn't even know anymore. His head is a mess. His cheeks are wet and burning. He couldn't really think straight. But he tried hard not to sob or make any sound audible to outside of the stall he's in.

What the hell is a mistake? What the hell didn't mean anything?

At that moment, Kirishima Eijirou was fighting the urge to beat himself up to a pulp. For having to resort to something so unmanly such as running away and holing up in his comfort zone instead of facing the problem head on. So he could still stay by Bakugou's side. Even only as a friend.

He was afraid. Afraid that things wouldn't be the same anymore once he did it. Afraid that he would ruin the friendship he had worked so hard to build between them. Afraid that Bakugou Katsuki would hate him. Kirshima couldn't forgive how cowardice he is and there's absolutely no excuse to it. Yet he still couldn't bring himself to confess and properly get rejected. 'Friendship' was all Kirishima had to be able to connect with the blond. He didn't want to lose that at worst.

 _That's enough._ He thought. The redhead stood up and wiped away his tears with the back of his hand. He stepped out of the stall and started washing his face.

Even though Bakugou is constantly working hard to be stronger and chasing after his dream, what on earth was Kirishima doing dawdling around like that? He didn't train and study hard to get into UA to kick back and enjoy his sweet time in high school, did he? He's going to be a hero that can stand strong to protect everyone. Now he got to snap and get back on his gear. Even if it means giving up on his feelings toward his 'best friend'.

* * *

the exciting part is from here onwards (hopefully) ;)  
im gonna apologize beforehand if there are parts that doesn't make sense. cuz i kinda forgot what i was planning when i wrote the earlier chapters so i just came up with things i can think of now. but i've tried to fix it as best as i can.  
oh and i think I've kinda change the way I write about Baku which is quite surprising for me. what do you think?

Regardless, thanks for reading~  
Feedbacks?


	6. The Beginning of Storm

**WARNING : MANGA SPOILER AHEAD**  
 **From here on out, I'm gonna include contents from the upcoming 3rd Season of the anime**  
 **Sooo feel free to leave or come back later or just read anyway if you dont mind spoiler**

 **Enjoy~**

* * *

It was the same tiring day of school trip as the day before, if not worse. Which means every single soul in both class 1-A and 1-B of UA's hero department were ran down as hell. Yet, how on the living earth could one certain boy still capable of flashing his one-million-worth smile around, even nearing the end of the day. That should be considered one mysterious case of miracle. Oh, maybe the very existence of Kirishima Eijirou himself was already miraculous.

"Don't mind, Bakugou." Said a soft voice right next to the said teen, accompanied by a pat on his shoulder.

The blond teen jerked up almost immediately—dropping the knife on his hand to the basket full of perfectly washed potatoes in the process—and spontaneously shouted at his unwelcomed companion. "What the fuck?"

"When your crush is smiling so brightly, you can't help but stare at them. I do that too sometimes." Todoroki went on, acting as though he's completely used to the other's antics, turned out he actually had not.

"I don't need to hear that about you, you prick!"

"Oh… I thought it'd make you feel better to have someone to relate to." The half-cold and half-hot quirk user looked down, appearing to think of the matter more seriously than he should in that situation.

"Who cares about that shit? The hell has it got anything to do with me anyway." Bakugou grumbled as he picked the knife back up and snatched a potato with the other hand on the way, started peeling it right after.

"I thought you were staring at Kirishima? Am I wrong?"

Bakugou's red pupils widened in an instant. "What?! I was not! No, that's not—why him?"

"Because you like him?"

If Bakugou Katsuki had not learned to be extra skilled and careful in handling knives, he could have grazed one of his fingers by then. He turned his head to Todoroki with bewildered look, almost losing his speech. "Y-You… Of course, that Deku and his goddamn big mouth, huh?!"

Months have passed since Bakugou's silly 'heartbreak'. He had pushed away most of his feelings and worked on moving on the usual daily life. Though the only thing he came to conclusion was that once you realize it, those suffocating shitty feelings would not go away simply by ignoring it. It remains. For god knows how long. He tried not to, but more than often caught himself staring at Kirishima with longing eyes. It's laughable, honestly, to the point that Bakugou wanted to barf sometimes. By the end of the day, however, he did not think of those feelings as anything but pleasant. Though that doesn't necessarily mean he had make peace with them.

The busybody Midoriya Izuku had, again, noticed that something was not right between Bakugou and Kirishima, and attempted to stick his nose in the matter. But Bakugou wouldn't let him. Not anymore. Kirishima genuinely wanted them to stay as friends. So Bakugou will make sure his foolish wish comes true, even if it means killing his own feelings.

Bakugou might not be able to stop his childhood friend from being observant and sensitive, or beating him until he forgot everything, but no more people other than him should know of this. Even so, by all means, the blond just had to forget the ugly possibility of Todoroki Shouto hearing a word from Midoriya. Yes, those lovebirds who ran off their mouth to each other probably with the disgusting reason as for not wanting to keep a secret between them. How could those two not be dating yet is still an unsolved puzzle.

If Bakugou were to be completely honest, he truthfully does not hate Todoroki Shouto that much. He acknowledged him as a worthy opponent but was not _at all_ fond of his half-assed way of fighting before, just like how his quirk is. 'Half-and-half bastard' is too perfect of a name he swore he could come up with for the guy. Sure, it is irritating to an extent when Todoroki antagonizes him one-sidedly for some seemingly ridiculous reason, but Bakugou couldn't care less about that. He was seen that way by most people anyway. One or two more doesn't really make a difference.

Bakugou is not the type to socialize and get chummy with people… okay, he might have made some exception, but Todoroki was definitely not one of them. That was the whole reason he didn't want to have idle chat or anything involved with the other teen outside of a rivalry relationship. In a healthy way. Not as a competitor for Midoriya's freakin' attention.

Despite all that, the son of the infamous number 2 hero, Endeavor just had to absorb all the nosiness from hanging around Midoriya Izuku and started pestering Bakugou as well. It escalated even more especially since around the time Bakugou had his little heartbreak. Although he hardly paid attention to it before considering the other guy did not mention Kirishima's name, but now that he had went and said it, Bakugou could finally put all the pieces together.

Todoroki must have found out from none other than Deku that Bakugou was never crushing on the same guy as he does, hence the disappearance of all the piercing stares and nasty attitude from the red and white haired. For some unknown reason, that fact was what Todoroki assumed to be the sign of a friendship he had been wanting to build with Bakugou but was shielded by the wall of jealousy before. Oh, maybe that's too much of a speculation from Bakugou's side, but really though. He couldn't think of a lighter way to describe Todoroki's actions. They were just grossing him out to that point.

"Oh, did I hit the bullseye?"

"No, you did not!" denied Bakugou. Both Todoroki and Midoriya knew things, but it could stay as their imagination as long as the blond didn't openly admit it to their face.

Todoroki didn't respond immediately as he stole a glance at Bakugou's hands, all of a sudden speeding up his chore of peeling the potatoes for that day's curry dinner. His action spoke louder than his words. Todoroki at least understood that gesture of his classmate's.

"I did." He insisted.

"No, asshole! Listen when others talk!" Bakugou started scowling.

"I do. You're the one who don't most of the time."

"Why the fuck should I listen to you, halfie?"

"Then I won't too."

A vein almost visibly popped on Bakugou's forehead when he turned to Todoroki silently. He wasn't fast enough to give a comeback while the other teen ignored him and continued on.

"But you see, Bakugou." Said the red and white haired. "One-sided love sure is tough, isn't it?"

"Don't lump me in with your sorry ass." Replied the other boy indifferently. Though deep inside, he found the statement to actually be pretty relatable.

Albeit not flawless yet, Todoroki had more or less gotten used to and knew when to take Bakugou's words seriously or not. "Say, do you not plan on confessing?"

"Why should I?"

"...?" Todoroki tilted his head a bit in confusion. "Normally you'd want to go out with the person you like, right? Isn't it natural?"

"So what?" Bakugou asked back, showing no sign of interest as he skinned the potatoes faster and faster.

"...You know, Kirishima is a good guy. So—" Todoroki tried rephrasing what he wanted to convey, just to be cut short.

"Who said that this is about that shitty hair?!" Bakugou unintentionally raised his voice.

"Whoa." The icy-hot guy was quite surprised, but showing none of his emotions in the tone. "Careful, he might hear you."

The blond slightly flinched, took a quick glance at where Kirishima Eijirou was standing. He was at a distance. Close enough for Bakugou to identify his wide, shark-teethy smile though was hardly at where he had the chance to overhear their conversations.

"Or was that your intention?"

Just when Bakugou could exhale a relieved deep breath, the other boy just had to open his mouth again.

"You…! Seriously need to fucking stop that!" Conscious of his previous act, Bakugou tried shouting at Todoroki with a lower voice as he pointed the knife he was still holding in front of his companion—tossing the last potato he'd done working on in a separate basket while he's at it.

Todoroki bobbed his head backwards a little. Expression unchanging as he spouted, "Stop what?"

"I am not discussing whoever's shit-ass love story with you. And stop involving Kirishima. He's got nothing to do with this." Bakugou stated, somehow emphasizing him standing up for the redhead more than himself.

This time, a frown was formed on Todoroki's forehead and he grimaced. "I don't understand you, Bakugou."

"Well," the blond raised an eyebrow. "I'm not hoping for you to, bastard."

"Hey, the two of you over there with free hands, please stop chattering at once and do help for other preparations of our ultimate curry!" yelled Iida Tenya at both Bakugou and Todoroki when he happened to caught them from far away. "And please put down the knife, Bakugou-kun as it is extremely dangerous and we do not wish for an unexpected accident…"

The scolding went on, but Bakugou paid no more mind to it. He withdrew the knife from Todoroki's face and dropped it in the sink with an overly obvious tongue-clicking.

"Bakugou-kun, now—"

"Yeah, I fucking know, Four-eyes! Don't order me around!" One thing Bakugou couldn't stand was being told off when he's just about to do something. But he will still do it anyway.

"Hey, Bakugou." Todoroki halted him right before the blond went away. "One last advice from me, he's a good guy. So don't go and regret losing him later if you won't start taking this seriously."

"Later, then." Todoroki finished talking. He turned his heel away and left the blond stupefied.

"Ain't nobody asking for your advice, fuckface!" roared Bakugou when he came to his senses.

Taking love related advice from either Todoroki or Midoriya should be the last thing Bakugou ever wanted to do. As if they are one to talk when those blockheads could not even see what's in front of each other. Yet the both of them had done the same for the explosive teen more than just once. They were not in any way helpful, of course… Probably not. At least not this time.

The talk about 'love' between Bakugou and Kirishima had ended. He knew better than bringing that up and prolonging it again. For there is no future in advancing their relationship further than that of a 'best bud'.

* * *

"Yo, Tail-boy… Switch with me…!"

Bakugou wasn't really up to the test of courage thing already in the first place. People with too much wasted energy like the Black-eyes and Dunce-face looked forward to that activity really badly, but that wasn't the case for Bakugou Katsuki. Sure, the training that day was tough as hell but not quite enough to wear him down. He simply couldn't see the point of it was why Bakugou was not particularly interested in the supposed-to-be exciting activity.

Especially now that Kirishima was dragged away with the rest of the remedial idiots, there's seriously nothing to expect from it. Bakugou would rather go to bed earlier. And if those reasons weren't enough, it just had to be added up with his worst luck: getting paired up with Todoroki Shouto.

Honestly, anyone (aside from Deku) would do. Just why on earth should he be stuck with the half-assed bastard again? As if he hadn't had enough of Todoroki acting like his flippin' love guru the day before. Wow, fate sure enjoys toying with him.

"What do you take me for…?" replied Ojiro Mashirao, either questioning what merit is there for him to agree on switching or just how shallow his existence is for Bakugou.

Of course, even if Ojiro had agreed, the damn 'Pussy-cats', as camp instructors wouldn't let them have their way. What could Bakugou do besides stomping his way grumpily through the forest's route with Todoroki closely following behind.

"I would like to tell you that I am not exactly happy with this arrangement as well."

"Shut up, halfie!"

"Did you see how lonely Midoriya was? I could have gone over and pair up with him. Damn, this is the first time teachers are pissing me off." Rambled Todoroki. "Oh, no, I should not be disrespectful… I think. Besides, Midoriya would probably be fine by himself. He is strong after all. Yeah, I should believe in him."

"Who cares about shitty Deku. I just don't want to be stuck with you."

Todoroki peeked at the blond, who was a few steps in front and had not stopped pacing his way down the road. "I know. It's too bad that Kirishima isn't here."

Bakugou snapped, "Why the hell do you have to bring up his name?! This isn't about that fucking hair-for-brains."

"Oh, it isn't? My bad."

"Tch." Was the only respond Bakugou gave to end the exchange.

"Ah."

"What again, you dumba—" Bakugou got himself tongue-tied as soon as he turned around and witnessed a head slipping up from the ground behind him and disappeared shortly after.

"That gave me a shock." Said the red and white haired, sounded nonchalant.

Bakugou looked up, still with his mouth agape then screamed his lung out at his companion when he came into realization. The blond was not into the test of courage, but once he does something, he is going to best it. "Arghhhh! Fucking hell! It's all because of your nonsense chatting! We gave our points away to them!"

"Are we even counting points?"

* * *

A hand waved before Kirishima's red eyes. He came to his sense right after and turned his gaze to the owner of the said hand. One blond male with a stroke of black locks around his fringe stood there, just staring at him without saying anything, waiting for Kirishima to initiate the talking.

"What's up, man?" said Kirishima, giving in.

Kaminari Denki put down his hand, took a glimpse at the direction his friend was looking at, and came back to the redhead. Grinning, as he asked, "Still the same guy, huh?"

"W-Wha…?" Kirishima knew he'd been caught red-handed, though still putting effort in pretending he had not done exactly what Kaminari indicated—to no avail, obviously.

"Come on, dude." The other guy pressed on. "You know what I'm talking about."

Kirishima turned around, crouched down as he picked up the neglected firewood he was chopping up earlier to use for the stove and continued working on it. He was clearly trying to dodge the topic. "Uh, yeah..."

Seeing that, Kaminari kept his mouth shut for a brief, then opened it again, sounding a little more considerate this time. "Can't move on yet?"

"…" Kirishima was not sure what to reply at first, but then he spun his head to Kaminari with a wide, strained smile—which he thought he perfectly pulled as a reassuring one. "Oh, do you mean Bakugou? Nah, I'm all over that, of course."

A compassionate smile formed on Kaminari's lips. "Really?"

"Yeah, it's just that… it's not easy to forget, right?" Whether consciously or not, Kirishima's gaze altered back toward the explosive teen a few metres away from them again.

Silence filled the air between them as Kaminari followed Kirishima gaze and stared at Bakugou as well. The guy was busy multitasking in peeling potatoes with ungodly speed while bickering with Todoroki Shouto, which is a not-so-rare sight, but still pretty unusual.

To put it bluntly, Kaminari had never understand what precisely in Bakugou Katsuki that Kirishima find attractive. They had discussed something similar around the infamous 'BakuSquad' before without the core himself. Kaminari made his point clear when he stated that he doubts that thing will be easy for Kirishima even if they somehow started going out. Although he knew and needless to say, acknowledged Bakugou's strength and intelligence, he still couldn't wrap around his head what charm does he hold as a potential lover. What makes Kirishima so head over heels about him?

Even so, as long as his buddy likes the guy, Kaminari had decided to question nothing and support Kirishima with all he's got. Unlike Ashido—who claimed to trust in her woman's intuition and was absolutely sure that Bakugou in one way or another, magically likes Kirishima as well and the redhead's feeling will be reciprocated no matter what—Kaminari didn't have that kind of thought. He didn't know how things would end up, but for some reason, he was not truly surprised when months ago, Kirishima came up to his friends bringing the news of his heartbreak.

Like the idiot he is, Kirishima tried to keep everything to himself and insisted that he was totally fine, when everyone knew he was not. 'BakuSquad', they're called, but lately even Kaminari could sense that they've been more and more distant from Bakugou himself. It's like the explosive lord was trying to hide things from them, closing a part of himself up. Though simultaneously, he had mysteriously started treating Kirishima gentler than how he had been before, which contradicted his other action. And around that time as well, he had been interacting with Todoroki and Midoriya a little bit more than he used to be.

No, Kaminari has never been that attentive, nor was it specifically toward Bakugou Katsuki. Those were all the content of the reports Kirishima told him from his observation of a certain blond which intensified after he was rejected. Evidently, the redhead had not been able to move on from then.

"Yeah, right." The future Stun Gun Hero honestly had no idea what's better to say in that situation. "Well, give it some time, bro."

The redhead only responded with a mute smile, before moving on to another topic, yet still revolving around Bakugou Katsuki. "You see, they're kinda close recently, huh?"

"I guess?"

"I wonder why…"

Not only that he had not move on, the fact that Kirishima was still showing sign of jealousy towards Todoroki Shouto couldn't mean anything else. He was still in love with the guy.

"Ah… I dunno, but I don't think anything is going on between them."

"Y-You think so?"

"Uh… not really sure, though. I'm gonna ask Ashido to find out later, haha." Kaminari winked as he raised his thumb.

Kirishima let out a small laugh. "But, there's nothing deep, okay? I'm just worried of a buddy."

"Of course, man!"

The sunshine child needed time and support to properly give up on Bakugou. Kaminari vaguely realized that his friend was not exactly doing the right thing in order of that. But he didn't have the heart to break it to Kirishima either. He just couldn't when the redhead put on that sorrowful, yet still holding some glint of joy expression whenever he brought Bakugou Katsuki up.

"Don't you want to ask him personally, though?"

The Red Riot paused for a while then confessed with an ounce of hesitant. "I want to… but, I can't seem to find the right timing."

"With our hellish training and remedial lessons that is, huh." The line sounded even more depressing as soon as it left Kaminari's mouth.

"I know, right." Kirishima agreed. He then stood up with a pile of chopped woods on his hands and added. "Well, maybe I'm just gonna do it right after the school trip."

"Sounds good."

"Gotta focus in training, dude!"

"Urgh…!"

The two laughed it off as they hurried to finish their chores before Iida found them being carefree and landed one of his lectures like he did to everybody. Kirishima peeked at Bakugou for one last time then ran off the opposite direction from the blond. He would ask him later. It was nothing urgent. Bakugou would not go anywhere unreachable just in two days or a little more. At least that was what he thought. Until Mandalay, one of their training instructors relayed the message from Midoriya to everybody through her telepathy. Kirishima had just learned a new fear then. That he could lose Bakugou Katsuki anytime possible.

* * *

 **I think I've reverted back to my old way of writing Baku. lol i dunno. any thoughts?**  
 **Imma work hard to complete the next chapie asap too :3**

 **Thanks for reading~**


	7. What will Become of Us?

**I took so long for this I'm ashamed of myself ;-;**

 **Pls enjoy~**

* * *

Kirishima Eijirou sat on the floor in his dark room lit by nothing but the light of the television a few inches away from his feet. The reporter's voice on the news was the only sound filling the air. His eyes were directed to the screen, though accompanied by none of his attention. Those usually glimmering red orbs showed no sign of enthusiasm.

The redhead picked the remote control up and pushed a switch, turning the television off. The same news had been reported over and over since the day before, when their school trip was forced to a halt and polices arrived at their training location. It had only been one day after the whole incident of the League of Villain's attack. UA, the professional heroes and the other officers were extremely busy investigating the matter on hand. Kirishima knew that the chances are slim that they'd already have clue of where the abducted student, Bakugou Katsuki was. But even so, he tried to clutch on that hope and stay tuned to the news because they would definitely not inform those things to any of the students who just survived a 'hell'. He was too afraid to miss something by that point.

"Ah…" Kirishima sighed, throwing the back of his head on the bed. One arm raised to cover his eyes. What exactly had he done?

Upon entering the most well-known school for the heroic department, UA High School, Kirishima Eijirou had hardly accomplished anything significant despite his determination back at middle school. He (and Bakugou) acted recklessly at the USJ incident, slowing Thirteen down and caused everyone to be separated. He made it to the top 8 in the sport festival, but that was nothing more than his luck pulling through by joining Bakugou's team in the cavalry match and winning against Tetsutetsu in a mere wrestling match. He didn't pass the final exam's practical test. And now in the most critical situation, he could not even do a single thing. Talk about being pathetic.

The supposed to be to be top secret location for their school trip training, was raided by a bunch of villains. They injured 26 students and abducted one. One that is Bakugou Katsuki, his precious friend and the person he holds dear to. Kirishima was ashamed of and hated himself. When Mandalay's telepathy came through, telling everyone that "Kacchan" was who the villains were after, Kirishima wanted to jump out of the building and run to his buddy really badly. But he could not. He did not do it.

Fear took over his mind in that moment. What if they really caught Bakugou? What if he could never see the blond again? What if he lost him forever? There were still a lot of thing he had not done, had not experience with Bakugou, had not tell him. He couldn't afford to lose the guy. Despite all those, his feet were stuck at the same place. He did not move as his heart commanded him to, probably in fear of failing yet again, like everything he had done so far.

When he heard that the villain successfully took Bakugou away and escaped, his mind went blank. The worst case scenario he had played in his head came to the reality, he didn't even know what to react. But when he saw Midoriya Izuku lying unconscious with his whole body covered in wounds, a deep regret rose in Kirishima's heart.

"Kacchan" indicated that Midoriya was the one who informed Mandalay to spread the message. Even when he himself was in such a battered condition, he still strive probably the hardest to rescue Bakugou. He will most definitely be a splendid hero in the future. While Kirishima? Well, forget being a hero, he could not even protect his loved one.

The redhead lifted his arm from his face, silently staring at his own palm then squeezed it hard before letting go and putting it down with another long sigh. He probably shouldn't stay holed up in his room and let all the negative thoughts occupy him.

There was little to none that Kirishima could do to help in the investigation and such, but Bakugou Katsuki is not the only victim to worry about. His other friends like Midoriya, Yaoyorozu, Hagakure, Jirou, and the B class' folks are suffering as well. The least he could do was to showing them his mental support. It was probably not a good idea to pay them a visit late at night, but he just needed to get his mind off by helping his friends or something.

Kirishima stood up from his seat and started making his way to the hospital.

* * *

"Wait, Kirishima…"

The said teen turned around as he noticed his name called and there he saw another male teen walked past the hospital door, running up to him.

"Are you really thinking of going?"

The redhead heard no sign of doubt in Todoroki's tone. He was simply demanding a confirmation. His monochrome eyes looked straight at Kirishima as if piercing on him. He had always thought that despite how collected Todoroki's image is, the boy could be really intimidating if he wanted to, with that intense look and outstanding quirk of his. He could rival Bakugou, for sure.

However, Kirishima himself would not be easily defeated either. He was convicted and not about to back down at any cost. A frown formed itself on his forehead as he answered, "Yes.", without any sheer of hesitation.

"Then, I'm going as well."

"Huh?"

To be honest, it kind of threw Kirishima off guard. He was almost convinced that the other would try to stop him or something along the line, as the redhead was fully aware of just how hasty his own decision was.

Kirishima ran into Todoroki Shouto precisely as he arrived at the hospital. The incident had worn everyone out, both mentally and physically, and they really need a good rest. But these two just could not relax. Neither of them could stay at home, sitting around and just patiently waiting for the news.

Todoroki had been there a few minutes earlier to check up on Midoriya and offered to stay the night to take care of him, though he was politely declined by the boy's mother. Even so, Todoroki was not feeling right to simply head back home just like that, so he thought of visiting the others as well and was heading to Yaoyorozu's room when he met Kirishima at the lobby.

After both of them unintentionally eavesdropped on Yaoyorozu's conversation with All Might by her room, Kirishima came up with a crazy idea. One he didn't even expect himself to think of doing.

"I am going to save Bakugou as well." Repeated the red and white haired male.

"No, no, I get it! But, why?"

"…well, why are you?"

Kirishima didn't respond immediately. The answer was painfully obvious, but he somehow uselessly dwelled on it for a short while, before saying exactly what he had planned to say in the first place. "Because, he's my buddy…"

Todoroki said nothing in reply. He seemed to be waiting for Kirishima to finish his sentence.

"You see, I was in the building with Kaminari and the others for the remedial lessons. I wasn't even present when they took Bakugou away." Kirishima started explaining, looking down and clenching his fists in the process. "I… really regret why I didn't immediately dash to him when I heard the message. So many of our friends are injured and hospitalized. Yet… yet, I came back without even a scratch. Without even fighting."

"That's not your fault."

"I know! I know… but I just couldn't face myself." The redhead raised his voice a little. Then toned it back down when he realized it. "That's why, when Yaoyorozu said there's a chance for us to know where Bakugou is, I couldn't help it. I… I gotta do something! It's now or never!"

"Even though it's so risky?"

"…" Kirishima lifted his head to meet Todoroki in the eyes. "Of course there's that to look out to as well, but it doesn't really matter right now. I was not ready then, but I'm prepared to risk anything to get my buddy back now. I won't let go of this chance. This time, I'll definitely save him!"

Todoroki was a bit taken aback by the fire in those red spheres before him. He nodded in understanding while thinking out loud. "You're an amazing person, huh. No wonder Bakugou likes you."

Kirishima was in a maze at first, before exploding into a blushing mess. "W-What do you mean, Todoroki?"

"Exactly what I said?" replied the other teen obliviously.

An idea came to the redhead's mind, but he brushed it off quickly, faster than his brain could process and considering it to be true. Because the possibility of his crush, Bakugou Katsuki returning his feelings romantically was near to none. He had stopped hoping ever since that friend of his rejected him indirectly.

Though he couldn't comprehend Todoroki's words, he didn't pry into it either. At that time, Kirishima had no idea why, but maybe he was just too scared to hear the answer. He did not want to hear someone slamming the truth of his unreciprocated love in his face again. Hence him thinking up something silly to keep the conversation going.

"O-Oh, as a friend? Really? Did he tell you that? Awesome, man!" blabbered Kirishima in a restless manner that, of course, resulted unnaturally—opposite to what he had intended to. "Yeah, I like him a lot too!"

It stung Kirishima's chest when the words left his mouth.

"He's a best bud to me after all."

How he wished he could say those sincerely.

Todoroki watched as Kirishima continuously lied in silent. He didn't know what it was about, but that look made him nervous, even though it was actually unnecessary to be. There was no way that Todoroki, of all people would see through him and his lies. The redhead was paranoid about it all by himself. He tried avoiding eye contact with Todoroki as much as possible and didn't pay attention when the other muttered something under his breath.

"…was that supposed to be a secret?"

"Eh?"

"Anyway, Kirishima."

"Yeah?"

"I just wanna tell you that, if you feel that responsible about this incident, then I must be worse." Todoroki paused, clenching his fist in front of his chest. "He was taken away right before me. And I failed to catch him just like that. Yet here I thought we could finally become friends."

Kirishima said nothing as he looked at the red and white haired with compassion. He couldn't even begin to fathom the pain of it if he was the one in Todoroki's position.

"That's why, I won't back down either. Let's go save him."

"Yeah! Dude, I feel a bit relieved having you, actually! Should something happen, two people are better than one, right?" Kirishima beamed, showing off his pointy teeth. Then it was instantly replaced with a bland smile. "We just gotta do it now, huh…"

He truly had no room in his mind to think of anything else at the moment. Focusing on a plan to rescue Bakugou was all his priority right then.

"So, are we doing this on our own? Or should we tell anyone else?" asked Todoroki.

A soft ringing sound interrupted them. Noticing it was coming from his phone, Kirishima reached the back pocket of his pants and pulled out a rectangular device out of it, glanced at the screen briefly before going back to Todoroki.

"Kaminari said that everyone is visiting the hospital tomorrow. Let's tell them our plan once we're all gathered there. I know it's absurd, but who knows if anyone's gonna join us."

"Okay." Todoroki nodded in agreement.

Kirishima gazed at his phone once again, and something came to his mind. "Uh… I think I'll try inviting Midoriya if he's awake tomorrow."

"Midoriya?"

"Well, I think he wouldn't be less bitter than us considering how hard he tried to save Bakugou as well."

"I am against it."

"Eh? But… but why?"

"He is heavily injured in this incident. I don't want him to get hurt more than this." Said Todoroki in a distinct tone. The air around him changed to that of cold one out of the blue, almost sending a chill down Kirishima's spine.

The same pattern of question repeated itself again, but the Red Riot felt a totally different vibe to it. First, Todoroki came up to him and was so eager on joining his 'rescue party' to the point Kirishima would question why. Then, he opposed the idea of involving Midoriya as strongly as his own will to join. And there, another 'why' filled Kirishima's head.

Kirishima knew that those two are really close to each other. They were nearly always stuck together on breaks, lunch, and so on. Well, he and Bakugou were not much different than those two in this case. Maybe Kirishima would do the same if Bakugou was in Midoriya's position. If he put it that way, he probably could relate to Todoroki's worries.

Thus, the redhead questioned no more and proceeded to find the right words to convince Todoroki otherwise. "I get it, dude. You're great buddies." Kirishima started, trying as calm as possible. "I might do the same if it's Bakugou."

"Then you should understa—"

"But then, don't you think you gotta let him decide?" explained the redhead carefully. "I know it's hard to accept, but no matter how much of a best bud you're with each other, you just can't control him." Kirishima dropped his gaze, his tone mellowed as he went on. "You can't be sure of what he's feeling. He's always by your side, yet there're times where you think he's beyond your reach. You will stretch out your hand, but you won't catch him every time. Soon, you'll realize that you don't own him after all. He is his own person. So, for better or worse, it's his own choice, right?"

Todoroki didn't say a word for what seemed like a long halt. Kirishima, who still had his sight glued to the ground, couldn't really make out what kind of expression the other teen was putting on. Though, he was pretty sure that Todoroki was listening to him attentively and probably taking mental notes for himself as well.

"I see… you might be right."

Upon hearing that, Kirishima lifted his gaze to look at Todoroki in the eye again. He didn't expect he'd be able to persuade the other in one go. "Y-Yeah, right?"

"I guess, I just have to respect his wish then…" The red and white haired gave in, sounded rather unwillingly, but made no other statement against what he said.

"Glad that you get it, bro!" Kirishima cheered in relief.

"But if it's impossible for him to move after all, I won't hesitate to forbid him come along." Added Todoroki.

"Oh… of course, haha." Just when the redhead thought Todoroki had given up. Fortunately though, it was not an unacceptable reason. "See you tomorrow then!"

"Yeah, see you."

Kirishima turned his heels back to the direction he was heading to earlier before he was confronted by Todoroki. On the way home, his head was surprisingly clear. Even when he got in his bed, the redhead could go to sleep right away without overthinking or turning on the news on TV again. His decision to go to the hospital was a great idea after all. In addition to finding out good news, he was grateful for having a conversation with Todoroki Shouto.

Whether consciously or not, Kirishima could not shake off the habit of using Bakugou Katsuki in the context of friendship, when deep down, he clearly knows that he was not talking about the blond as a mere friend anymore. His concern. His anguish. His bliss. His comfort. All of those were not, in any way, expressed toward a friend.

Those thoughts had always been sort of a burden to Kirishima. But after 'lecturing' Todoroki, he became aware that he might be referring those words to himself. However, he also realized that none of that actually matters anymore. His unrequited love, pain and anything else, he'd threw them all away if he could see Bakugou Katsuki again. If he could get the blond back safe and sound, Kirishima promised himself that he won't run away again, and to properly confess to Bakugou regardless of the outcome.

Thus on the next day, without an ounce of uncertainty, he spoke up to Midoriya Izuku.

"Then, let's go save him now."

* * *

He thought it was foolish at first. At that kind of critical time, when his safety, even life is on stake, a certain face kept popping up in his head. Spiky red hair which is surprisingly soft and fluffy. A pair of big, round red eyes constantly brimming with passion. Charming wide smile decorated with a set of adorable yet weirdly attractive shark-like teeth. He wanted to see that person. He wanted to see a teen named Kirishima Eijirou.

Surely, at least 48 hours must have passed since Bakugou was abducted by a bunch of villains and causing a huge commotion to the world outside. Medias and the society were shaken up by the fact that UA students were confronted by villains continuously in a short amount of time, and to top it off, this time they actually managed to snatch away one among of them.

Bakugou was tied and securely kept an eye on in a dimly lit room, which he assumed to be the League of Villains' hideout. So far, he had not lost even a single strand of hair. The villains had not done anything outrageous to him besides the leader, who looked too much like a creepy man with some serious mental issues, unceasingly talk to him about ideals of villain and hero whenever the news about his abduction incident was up on the TV.

"Wanna-be hero, Bakugou Katsuki." A certain limp voice of a man started, "Won't you join me?"

Was what Shigaraki Tomura always brought up into the conversation whenever he saw fit. Bakugou was baffled when he heard it the first time. Who would have thought such a big scale of operation those villains did was to catch and win him over to their side. After analysing the situation for a while now, Bakugou came to the understanding that there's a high probability that they wouldn't harm him physically, much less killing him.

Even so, there was nearly nothing he could do in such a situation besides staying put and until the professional heroes arrived for rescue. He hated himself for that. He hated how weak and incapable he was that he had to be taken away and just _waiting_ for help to come. Amidst the self-blaming, another feeling rose in his heart. Fear. As flawless as he was in putting up a calm front and hiding it from the villains, he undeniably felt it. Despite knowing he had a high chance to survive unscathed if the heroes came in time, the fear just wouldn't go away. What if, just what if out of a thousand possibilities, one ended up him dying on the villain's hand?

Bakugou Katsuki is stubborn, or at least that's how most people see him. If he were to choose, he'd prefer what Aizawa named after his behaviour. He has strong convictions in what he decided to do, going down the path of a hero. He knew that he wouldn't stray from that ideal of his, though deep down inside, even for someone like Bakugou, staying positive the whole time is not easy in such situation. Every now and then, he'd imagine the worst case scenario.

"You can shove that offer of yours and go to hell!" jeered the blond teen as a reply. That was by all means, his true feelings, though also served to mask his insecurity at the same time.

He was afraid. He was afraid to die. To have his supposed to be long life stop there. To not be able to live through his bright future ahead. To never see those important to him anymore. To lost everything all at once.

Bakugou observed the thick lock restraining his hands from creating explosions. They had probably learned from the UA Sport Festival and know the way to keep him under control. Once he got out of there, he definitely had to train and find ways to break through those kinds of locks. He isn't having the same method do him in anymore. If he could get out safely, that is.

The blond sighed subtly, slowly closing his eyes. Out of nowhere the face of Kirishima Eijirou appeared in his head again. He honestly needed a great dose of positivity from that guy right at the moment. He wanted to ruffle his red flocks like how he always unconsciously does during their study session. He wanted to see the stupid, sheepish smile of the redhead whenever Bakugou did that. Really, though. All of that just shows how badly he couldn't move on from Kirishima.

If things were to come down to the worst, Bakugou wished he'd have told Kirishima about his true feelings… or not. _Nah, that won't do._ Confessing at the brink of his death is no more than a self-satisfying thing for Bakugou himself. He'd just burden Kirishima with a bizarre confession from a person he thought as 'best bud'. The guy still has a proper long life ahead and a girl he likes. He didn't need it ruined by a friend's troublesome dying message.

 _I guess I just gotta bring it to the grave then._

Bakugou furrowed his eyebrows, before suddenly shutting his eyes open. It must have been kept for a closed room for far too long. It bored him out to the point that he had so many negative thoughts all at once. What's with the talk about dying anyway?

He took a deep breath and exhaled it carefully, as to not be noticed by anyone. He was not dying. Not today. If anyone's going to kick the bucket, it would be none other than those rotten villains. It is not Bakugou Katsuki to simply sit tight and wait to be freed. He always gets what he desired with his own hand, with his own effort. He'd wait for the chance and get out of there no problem.

He would safely leave that place and see that redhead again. He had decided to live his life just staying at the side line and watch, as long as he can see Kirishima happy.

However, who'd have thought that when Bakugou heard his voice, saw his face, as the redhead came for him, he'd completely change his mind.

"Take my hand!"

It was just that one sentence. It took Bakugou's breath away. It was enough to bring him to tears. He was reminded of how much he wanted that guy.

"…You idiot." Said the blond as he took the hand stretched out to him with a wide grin.

* * *

 **nothing much. the whole ch is just description of what they (prolly) went through in the manga.**  
 **im sorry if you guys were having expectation *sobs***  
 **I was planning to skip right to after the rescue cuz im too lazy to do this part**  
 **but seeing ppl (kinda) fired up to see it, i tried giving it a shot**  
 **am i making it too boring tho pls tell me**

 **anyway, thanks for reading~**


	8. One Step Forward

**My lazy ass is just back from being inactive for like 6 months wow**  
 **Sorry for the long wait ;-;**  
 **Enjoy~**

* * *

"I didn't get rescued, got it? You shitheads were just the best escape route outta there!"

"Yeah, whatever you say, man!" Kirishima beamed, raising his thumb in agreement.

"I just didn't wanna be in All Might's way."

The redhead stared at Bakugou in a brief silence. "Yeah, I know…"

It's fine. Anything is fine. After seeing his beloved safe and sound in his hand, nothing else should really matter anymore. Kirishima was so relieved that tears of joy almost welled up in the corner of his eyes. He gazed at Bakugou, slowly tracing his red eyes down from the blonde's face to his body, checking if the guy was in one piece. He stopped at his hand before noticing it was still holding his own from the rescue earlier.

"Ah."

Bakugou turned around and landed his eyes on both of their hands as well. Heat rushed down on his face, he quickly flung Kirishima's hand away, grumbling. "Let go, asshole…"

"O-Oh, sorry." Stuttered Kirishima, not really sure what to react to that. He didn't even bother hiding his embarrassment, whether he realized it or not. It was sort of awkward for a moment, then to break the ice, Kirishima started again. "See, who's looking dandy here?"

"Huh?" Bakugou scowled, sounding fine the way he is.

"Everyone's worried, dude. Who knows what the villain's gonna do to you?"

"Don't joke with me! They ain't getting anything they want from me."

"I know, right?" Kirishima laughed. They exchanged jokes—or what seemed like one for the redhead—for a while as Kirishima enjoyed his sweet time after being away from the blonde for a mere three days that felt almost like an eternity.

He was really sure that everything would be fine. Well, who wouldn't as soon as they see All Might, the number one hero, the symbol of peace coming to the rescue around the same time Kirishima and the others arrived. All Might is going to defeat the villain, save the day like how he always does in no feat, and everyone would live their days peacefully again starting tomorrow.

And Kirishima? He had made a promise to himself that, if he could get Bakugou Katsuki back safely, he would finally man up and confessed his love, regardless of the outcome. He meant it. It's not a problem even if the other rejected him. Heartbreak, he had gone over it already. It won't be any worse than that. On the other hand, if from a thousand possibilities, he was accepted, then nothing could have been better. With that on the mind, Kirishima looked forward to the next day to come.

At least that's what he thought things would go.

* * *

Kirishima ran a cutter along the straight line on his second cardboard box. He swiftly opened it and began rummaging through the content when he realized the dumbbell he took out from there was not his. He observed it carefully to double check, though he actually knew it right away by the feeling of the grip. He then put the dumbbell down and looked inside the box itself. There were a bunch of things he was definitely not familiar with. Kirishima scratched the back of his head in confusion, but it didn't take long for him to bright up. Since there were a lot of boxes sent to the dorm, someone might accidentally mix other's stuff to his room. He looked around the outer part of the box, scanning through it from top to bottom until he finally found what he's searching for. A name to identify belonged to who it was: Bakugou Katsuki.

Kirishima instantly jerked back at that. He had been conscious about anything related to the mentioned teen ever since he discovered his unordinary feelings toward the guy. It had, inarguably, toned down more or less as time passed. However, the recent turn of events brought the nervousness back, especially after he made the mental decision to face his feelings once and for all. It was totally fine when everyone was around, but Kirishima honestly didn't know how and what kind of face should he make to meet Bakugou alone. He couldn't help but felt like everything would be revealed right off the bat—all of his ugly desires and ulterior motives—when he saw the other.

"Shit!"

The redhead looked up. A series of loud noises of things hammering the floor followed closely. He turned his head to the wall separating his and the room next door, where the person bugging his mind resided in. Somehow, miraculously as it seemed, the voice of that very person brought him back to his senses.

What was he doing dawdling uselessly there? Meeting Bakugou should be the thing he looks forward to the most. A soft smile formed itself on Kirishima's lips. He got up on his feet and proceeded to deliver the box to the righteous owner.

"Bakugou." Called Kirishima as he knocked on the door to the right of his own bedroom. After waiting for what he deemed long enough, he was about to knock again when the door was abruptly flung open.

"What the fuck do y—" the blond froze. He stared at Kirishima in silence for no more than 5 seconds before continuing, a bit more composed. "…it's just you, shitty hair. What do you want?"

Kirishima wondered what the pause meant, but it didn't really matter. "Ah, no, just that one of your stuff was sent to my room by mistake. So here you go. Sorry, I've opened it though."

"Oh." Bakugou responded shortly. He only gazed at the box Kirishima was holding out to him with an unreadable expression. "'that so?"

"Yeah…?"

Bakugou scooped the huge cardboard box from Kirishima's hands and immediately turned his heel away into the room. "Great, I was just wondering where it went."

As soon as the blond stepped away from the door, Kirishima spontaneously glanced inside and his attention was caught by the pile of heavy looking tools flooding the floor in front of the bed. Those must be the source of the noises earlier.

"Woah, what happened here, dude?" Kirishima asked and stepped in carefully.

"Just fucking dropped an opened box. That's all."

Kirishima snickered while picking up some of the things that seemed dangerous to be left on the floor, such as a cylinder water bottle or a long, cool-looking rod. "That sounds pretty careless of you, huh."

"Shut up." Bakugou grumbled, but produced no venom in his tone.

"Bakugou, what's this rod here? A weapon?" asked the redhead as he continued helping the other tidying the room.

"That's the one you used when mountain climbing… hey, how long are you gonna stay here!? Go clean up your own room!"

"Well, this kind of thing is faster done by two people than one, right? That's why help me out at my room later!"

"As if! It's definitely faster done alone."

The blond kept nagging on, exchanged with Kirishima's laugh in almost each sentences. Both of their hands didn't stop working. Quite the contrary of his words, the former made no effort to try and kick the latter out, whilst the latter showed no sign of taking his words seriously either. Because he knew Bakugou, he probably did better than anyone else.

The night at the Kamino ward was just nearly a nightmare, for the rest of the world, but definitely not for Bakugou Katsuki and Midoriya Izuku. Although in the end All Might did take the victory between his fight with the villain's mastermind, he had to retire as a Hero after overusing his quirk. Agony was indeed evident in the society over this incident. However, those two seemed to take the matter multiple times worse than everyone else present in that place.

Truthfully, Kirishima felt unmanly and malicious just by having the thoughts, but he was… grateful. He was grateful that despite all the chaos and terrible things that happened that night, Bakugou was safe. The boy is safe, unwounded, unharmed in any way possible. But he won't say that out aloud. There's no way he could, because that incident itself was nothing to be joyful over.

Everything was so tense afterwards, Kirishima lost his chance to meet or talk to Bakugou until the day they were meant to move into the dormitory came. It would be a lie if he said he didn't miss the guy. Kirishima peeked over his shoulder, watching Bakugou and his every movement. He's only glad to be allowed to stay by the side of the person he loves, although that's not enough anymore. His eyes followed that pair of fine, toned arms working each of its muscles diligently. He averted his gaze almost instantly.

But Kirishima Eijirou didn't have thee unwavering dedication to hold back from feasting his eyes. He glanced at the other again. Those beautiful fingers that appeared strong yet seemed used to handle delicate objects. Those sharp, red orbs thoroughly examining his stuffs and figuring out how to organize them.

Kirishima's heart thumped loudly in his chest.

He felt horrible, but he couldn't look away. Not at that tempting, fair-skinned, collarbone revealing itself before his eyes. A bead of sweat trickling down from Bakugou's neck worsened Kirishima's wild thoughts. What was even worse than all those was the fact that he carelessly locked himself in a closed room that contained not only Bakugou Katsuki, but also filled with the sweet smell of his sweat. Kirishima didn't even know how to think straight anymore.

Then, without so much as a warning, this little muscle movement on the face of the blond tugged his lips into a tiny smile and his eyes turned softer at the same time. Kirishima could feel his heart throbbing at the 'surprise attack'.

Bakugou lifted his head from the photo on his hand and turned to Kirishima. His smile disappeared to the thin air and his eyes turned back to that of a firm stare. "What are you looking at, bastard?"

"N-Nothing! Nope, nothing!" stuttered Kirishima. He frantically stomped to the entrance door, blurting out. "It-It's kinda hot, huh? Let's open that door a little bit."

Bakugou only looked at him questioningly and said, "the heck is wrong with you?" before moving on to the task on hand.

Approximately 3 hours later, Kirishima sat on the floor of his own dorm bedroom, now fully decorated to his manly taste. He glanced around the walls filled with various posters from his favourite collection with satisfaction glimmering in his eyes.

"Oi, move over."

He was not alone inside there though.

"Ah, sorry." Kirishima scooted away a little so Bakugou could take a seat next to him. Surprisingly or not, things really went as Kirishima said and ended with both of them unpacking both room together. It was something insignificant, really, but he was happy Bakugou went along with his idea.

"God, your room's messy."

"What? It's pretty tidy already, isn't it?"

"Oh, really? So what are these garbage doing here?" The blond rambled as he lightly kicked some empty cardboard boxes near his feet. "Don't fucking tell me they are useful too."

"T-that is… I'll take care of them later."

"Yeah, keep saying that and you'll eventually forget. Move your lazy ass now."

"Ehhh but I'm tired…! I promised I'll definitely do it later, so let me laze around just for a bit, Bakugou-san!" Kirishima whined and tried impersonating Kaminari's usual antics to get away from things he didn't want to do.

"Huh?! Don't give me that crap." Bakugou glared.

And of course, it did not work at all towards this blond. "Ah, yessir! I'm doing it now!"

The redhead got up quickly from his seat, which he had not even stayed on long enough for the spot to warm up. When he tried to made his way to where the boxes were, Kirishima lost his balance due to the sudden movement and since the space between his bed and the shelf in front was pretty cramped, there really was nowhere for him to choose but falling on Bakugou.

In the split second before he flung open his eyes, Kirishima could feel the heat radiating directly from the blond's skin on his own. He was touching Bakugou! No, their body was touching, in an awkward position, he betted. Just from the thought of it Kirishima was pretty embarrassed of himself already. But then the sudden realization that he might have accidentally injured the other from the bump, or maybe just made him the least bit uncomfortable, Kirishima rose up right away.

"Sorry, Bakugou! You alr—"

What he saw next though, stupefied him, in a way he couldn't have expected.

"…'m fine so quickly move… you shitty-hair…" Bakugou avoided looking at him in the eyes. Kirishima could see even that. He tried to cover his reddened face under the back of his hand and spoke in a manner so timid the redhead nearly couldn't believe he was hearing it in Bakugou's voice.

If there were moments in his life where he felt like his heart could explode in any minute, now must be one of them. Served with the sight before him, Kirishima lost his reasoning for all the time he could have while Bakugou Katsuki was trapped under him, between his arms, within his reach.

Kirishima swallowed before calling out. Calmly. "Hey, Bakugou."

The redhead took Bakugou's hand and slowly moving it away, revealing his face. He pressed his wrist down against the floor, locking its movement and giving no room for Bakugou to prevent it from happening.

The blond looked up curiously at the sudden change in the air. He stared back at his opponent above him, who was giving him this weird, passionate look in silence. Confusion was evident in Bakugou's red eyes as he wrinkled his eyebrows. Bakugou wanted to shout at Kirishima, told him to quit joking around and pushed him away like how he should react usually. But he became unable to when he saw Kirishima's face.

"Oi… what the hell…?" was the best he could make out.

Kirishima did not answer to that. Bakugou was putting a lot less fight than what he had expected of the guy in that situation. What does that mean? Was Kirishima granted the permission to do what he intended? He sure thought he did. He didn't know where the confidence came from, but right then he felt like he would get away from doing anything his heart desired.

In that case, he wouldn't let the chance slip from his finger.

"Kirishima…? What are you—"

The said teen leaned forward, bringing their faces closer and he was just about to kiss Bakugou. A warm hand with a strong smell of sweet, burnt sugar blocked his mouth. The latter stopped him right before their lips brushed against each other with his another free hand. Then with a sudden burst of strength, Kirishima was pushed back as Bakugou got up from the floor swiftly.

"What the fuck are you trying to do?!"

"Bakugou, I'm sorry, I was just—" The redhead merely blurted out whatever came into his mind before he could even grasped what was occurring.

"Shut up! Don't joke around with me, asshole! What happened to the person you like?"

"Eh?"

"Stop messing with me and show some action to her instead, you prick! Don't think you'll get away like this every time!" The blond clicked his tongue once and turned around, proceeding to the exit.

"Huh? Where are you going, Bakugou?"

"Back to my room!" said him and slammed the door behind. "And don't follow me!"

Kirishima watched the blond left with a blank look plastered on his face. Giving in to temptation had led Kirishima Eijirou to the wrong path once and since then he had sworn to himself not to repeat the mistake. However, that day, he thought he didn't commit another irreplaceable mistake.

He was positive that he had gotten the consent to make a move from Bakugou's reaction and blushing face. Sure, he was surprised at first when the blond ended up rejected him so strongly, though everything was clear as sky afterwards. Bakugou was not upset because Kirishima tried to do something he didn't want to. It was because he was thinking on Kirishima's behalf, for 'the girl he likes'. The consent he thought he had was valid after all.

Kirishima almost couldn't wipe off the grin that started spreading on his face. Bakugou probably wouldn't leave his room anymore for the rest of the day. Then he couldn't wait for another day to come so he could hurry up and tell Bakugou his true feelings. He couldn't afford to be rejected again, could he? Not for the flimsy reason such as 'messing around'. For he could never mess around with that one person he loves: Bakugou Katsuki.

* * *

Kaminari dragged his feet lazily to the hallway. He yawned once, then looked around, trying to find the figure of a certain red-haired friend of his. He had seen Kirishima being really energetic as he dashed out of the changing room just a few seconds ago and now he's nowhere to be found. Although he himself wasn't that far off, he sometimes still wondered where the guy got his energy from. Especially on the day like today, Kaminari felt like his whole body had been crushed inside out after regaining consciousness from short-circuiting his brain. The so-called "super moves" developing training for the upcoming provisional license exam was truly intense and challenging. He really didn't want to move another finger anymore as soon as he got back to the dorm.

The blond-haired male took out his phone from the back pocket as he walked down the stairs. He turned it on and started checking the incoming messages, replying them one by one, before a currently inactive chat log caught his eyes. Suddenly, a better idea other than going back to his dorm room and sleep like a log crossed his mind. He stopped his finger from scrolling and tapped on it.

「Hey, Kirishima!」

He typed and sent it.

「Where are you~? ( `ε´ )」

「You're gone like a flash!」

A smile tugged on his face as he pressed 'enter'.

「Let's grab a bite later ton…」

"I love you, Bakugou!"

Kaminari's fingers froze in the air before he finished typing for the last bubble of text. He recognized that voice. He lifted his head and as expected, it was the redhead he was just texting, Kirishima Eijirou. Kirishima, and in front of him was the said teen, Bakugou Katsuki. They were standing quite a distance apart from Kaminari and they most likely had not realized him coming around yet. Knowing he appeared in an unsuitable timing, he quickly shifted over to the nearest wall, hiding himself from their sight and continued eavesdropping.

"I-I know you're probably confused about a lot of things, but! But please listen to me first!"

Bakugou didn't seem to be commenting on any of it. Instead, he just kept quiet—which is uncharacteristically of him—as Kirishima went on.

"First of all, I'm extremely sorry for lying! I wasn't mistaken at all and I don't have anyone I like! Uh, no, I mean I actually do, but that—I mean, that's not it!"

"Huh?"

"Sorry, I'm kinda nervous, man." Awkward laughter filled the space before Kirishima took a deep breath and said. "So there's actually a person I like. And they're not a girl or someone you don't know. It's you."

"…"

"It's always you. It's just been you all along. And that k-kiss… wasn't done on a whim at all! And it doesn't mean nothing!"

"…then why did you lie?"

"I'm sorry, I was being an idiot! I thought I don't want to be rejected by you and we stopped being friends if you found out about my feelings so I just… I know it's unmanly of me. I know that, b-but anyway! I've decided to stop running away! So let me say it one more time,"

Kirishima took one step closer and grab Bakugou's shoulders. His tone was low and serious. "I love you, Bakugou."

Bakugou haven't even opened his mouth to answer when the other let go of him and beamed. "Well, that, I just thought I have to tell you properly. You don't have to give me an answer. It must be weird getting a confession from a man out of nowhere, huh?" Kirishima turned his back and waved as he walked away. "Then, I'll head back first. Sorry for taking your time, Bakugou."

"Huh?! Oi, shitty-hair, wai—"

"I am already happy to be your friend." Said the redhead, suddenly holding his steps. "I thought so. But maybe I'm not as strong as that. And maybe I shouldn't ignore your feelings. So… please give me an answer after all."

Kaminari sighed and leaned his back on the wall as soon as he saw Kirishima leaving the scene. He thought he just saw something he shouldn't, or would rather not.

"Oh, Kirishima's really at it, huh?"

"Woah!" Kaminari whipped his head to the right so fast he almost broke his neck and had to visit Recovery Girl's infirmary for the second time that day. "Since when are you here?"

"Hmm? Around 'let me say it one more time,' I guess?" said Sero with a thinking pose. "What? Have you been here from the start?"

The raven-haired that just appeared out of thin air next to Kaminari was Sero Hanta. As plain-looking as his face might be, he actually doesn't have that small of a presence that one wouldn't notice him approaching. In fact, he has a lively enough character that's unexpectedly outstanding despite his appearance. (No, Kaminari is certainly not making fun of him. Though, the fact that his plain-face is an interesting subject to poke on is indeed undeniable.) Kaminari knew that it was him that was lost in thought and not paying attention.

"Uh, kinda?"

"For real? What are you, a stalker?" he snickered.

"Shut up."

"But, man, things are getting serious, aren't they?"

Kaminari's eyes were suddenly caught back on the phone screen he had been ignoring. He reread the incomplete text he hadn't sent yet and put his finger on the keyboard. Feeling bad for ignoring Sero, he tried to respond. "What?"

"Well, they might start going out anytime now, right?"

"Oh," Kaminari paused. He then agreed in monotone while moving his finger. "Yeah, you're right."

「Let's grab a bite later ton…」

「Let's grab…」

「…」

「Well, whatever~ I'm beat today so let's hang out tomorrow!」

And sent.

"Hmm, what's wrong?" asked Sero at Kaminari's lack of enthusiasm.

"Huh? Nope, nothing!" Kaminari chirped, chasing away the negative air around him as fast as possible before it became too suspicious. He pressed the power button on his phone and slipped it back to his pocket. "Hey, I'm hungry! Let's go outside and grab some food."

"Okay if it's your treat."

"Ehh?"

"Just kidding."

* * *

 **So I was procrastinating and did some other oneshots instead lmao**  
 **But then every time I saw notification of a new reader following this series I feel guilty**  
 **then I guess I just have to suck it up and stick to this til the end**

 **Oh let me mention that the unpacking scene was halfway official from the light novel. And here I'm gonna thanks /aitaikimochii on twitter who kindly brought us the translation for that part so I could use it here.**

 **anyway, thanks for reading~**


	9. Despair

**There's nothing much I could say.**  
 **Thank you for waiting, maybe?**

 **Enjoy~**

* * *

The blonde stared blankly at the blackboard. Aizawa had dismiss the class 5 minutes ago and disappeared somewhere along with his bright yellow sleeping bag. The board was left untouched for those who haven't had the chance to jot down the materials to their notes. But Bakugou wasn't one of them, obviously. He pays close attention to classes and doesn't lose focus for any unrelated matter. The thing that held him in his position unmoving was what came after the classes.

"Bakugou! Let's go home!"

The said teen turned. A wide grin decorated with a set of natural pointy teeth welcomed him. He said nothing in return before swiftly packing his stuff and walked away. Seeing that, Kirishima Eijirou didn't falter even for a second. He immediately followed, sticking close to the former and continued talking.

"Man, I'm hungry. How about you?"

Bakugou ignored him, but the redhead didn't give up.

"Oh, didn't you say you want to go to the department store the other day? Let's go! We can stop at the ramen shop on the way too."

It went on even after they left the classroom, leaving some of their classmates watching perplexed. Among them, a pink-haired girl scooted over to where Kaminari and Sero were and whispered, not so subtly, to them.

"Hey, what's with those two? I thought you told me they might be going out already?"

Sero sighed and answered. "Beats me. I thought they're just trying to be low-key but there are really no sign of it."

"Isn't this no different with the usual them?"

"Yeah, I guess."

"What is it, guys? Are we talking about Kirishima-kun and Bakugou-kun here?!" Hagakure joined in upon seeing them crowding up.

"Shhh, not so loud, Tooru-chan!"

The invisible girl seemed to be covering her mouth right away with both hands.

"You're not exactly being quiet either though." Said Sero to Ashido. "Well, I don't really get it, but all we gotta do is just wait for Kirishima to tell us himself. Right, Kaminari?" He elbowed the boy next to him, only to find him neither listening nor responding.

"Kaminari?"

"Huh, what?"

"What's wrong, dude?"

Kaminari looked at him, spacing out for a moment then answered with a snicker. "What? I should ask you that instead. What could be wrong with me?"

"Well, you—"

Sero wasn't even given the chance to finish his sentence when Kaminari stood up from his seat and uttered, "Sorry, guys, I have something to do. I'm gonna head off first!" before dashing out of the classroom without looking back.

"There he goes."

"Hasn't he been out of it lately?" Ashido commented, her black eyes following Kaminari's figure disappearing behind the walls.

"You think so too?" Sero agreed. "And worse, he wouldn't admit it."

Ashido then sighed, rather dramatically. "They boys are weird today. What should I do, Tooru-chan~?"

"Don't mind, don't mind! Let's just leave them alone and get some pancakes at the café later!"

"Great idea! Let's just leave the weirdos alone, shall we?"

"Hey, I'm still here, you know." The only male left in the group added. The girls laughed and they carried on chattering around for a little more. Sero stole a glance at the seat diagonal to his right, where Kaminari was on, in the middle of the conversation. He thought to himself. "That idiot."

* * *

A few days ago, Bakugou Katsuki was left dumbfounded on his way back to the dormitories after the training session. It was not often someone could render him speechless and unable to find a word to retort like that (Given the usual him, he would at least manage some "Shut up!" or "Go die!"). On top of that, he was stupidly standing still on the same spot after the other person had left. The only thing currently swirling in his mind was what did he just hear?

One redhead, the one he knows very well said something about 'love'. Kirishima. Yes, he was Kirishima. Does Kirishima like someone? Bakugou knew about that already. He'd heard about it first from Ashido Mina some time ago before the person himself admitted it too afterwards. But he'd never heard of who the opponent is. Bakugou would rather not know, actually. Because like it or not, he would probably start comparing himself to the other. Because he is in love with Kirishima Eijirou.

Kirishima doesn't know, of course. He couldn't tell him and he wouldn't. So what did Kirishima talk to him about 'love'? Did Kirishima tell him the identity of the person he likes? Who was it again? What kind of person she is?

" _I love you, Bakugou!_ "

All of a sudden, Bakugou felt the heat rushing up to his face. Kirishima's flustered face, his sweating hands, his red irises darting everywhere else but at Bakugou, the slightly trembling voice, relentless breathing, and so on. They were all too real. They were too real to be Bakugou's dream or imagination.

Kirishima Eijirou just confessed his love towards Bakugou seconds ago. How could he believe that? That the person he has been in love with loves him back, right from the start. Right from that first kiss. Probably even before.

"Ehh?"

"Just kidding."

"I'm broke, you know. Stop that~!"

"Oh, should I treat you instead~?"

The blond was startled when he heard two familiar voices approaching from behind. He quickly moved his feet and made his way to the dorm like he had originally planned. He wasn't in the mood to deal with the loud Dunce-face at the moment in the case he saw him and started pestering Bakugou. Another reason to it was, he couldn't go around showing others himself in the state of a blushing mess.

It would be a lie if he said he wasn't in the slightest happy. He wanted to laugh at himself when he recalled Kirishima's words. The redhead is in love with him but he couldn't admit it in fear of losing Bakugou. Unmanly, he said? He certainly was, but Bakugou wouldn't blame him, for they were exactly the same at that aspect.

It was a whole big ass misunderstanding all along. How much of an idiot he and Kirishima could be? As much as holding one-sided feelings for each other without knowing for months? How are they any different with Todoroki and Deku, the well-known thick-headed couple who still hadn't got their feelings across?

Right at the moment the thought of Midoriya Izuku crossed his mind, Bakugou saw the real person a few meters ahead and he cursed internally. The nerd really had an incredibly horrible timing, didn't he? But then the next thing he saw surprised him a little. All Might in his skinny form was standing not far from the green-haired boy, most likely giving advices or the sort about Midoriya's new moves.

Bakugou stopped his track. He suddenly felt his heart sunk. His expression faded away from his face as he turned around and walked inside 1-A's Heights Alliance. He went straight to the elevator and didn't even bat an eye or snapped when Todoroki greeted him as they passed each other. When he reached the 4th floor, he only glimpsed at the name plate with "Kirishima" written on it before moving on and entered his own room.

As soon as the door was closed, he broke down. He sat on the floor, leaning against the door. It happened again. Ever since the unforgettable night of the Kamino incident, Bakugou could hardly had any peace of mind whenever he's alone. All the scene from the moment All Might barged in to the villain's headquarter to save him, the appearance of the villain's Boss, Kirishima and the others coming for him, the last fight, and then All Might's weakened state replayed in his head again.

He was weak. He was kidnapped because of his own fault and that's why everything that followed happened. That's why All Might, the figure he admires and looks up to had to retire. Despite all that, he was safe, unscathed and unharmed. The only reason there is to allow him coming back in one piece is that he had to get stronger, much more than he is right now. How could he forget? How could he get distracted from that? He only had one thing to do by the moment: focus on the provisional license exam.

Bakugou gazed at his palm and squeezed it tight, murmuring to himself. "I have no time for other stuff…"

* * *

"Bakugou, look!" The redhead tugged at his shirt, pointing toward a movie banner with another hand. "I've been waiting for that one to air! Let's go watch it once the license exam is done!"

"Who the hell is going with you?" Bakugou shook off Kirishima's hand and continued walking.

Again, he didn't falter and kept up his steps with Bakugou."C'mon, you said you're interested too before."

"Not with you. Are you fucking listening?"

"It's okay. I'll buy the ticket. Which seat do you prefer?"

"In the middle, of course! What kind of retard choose front seat even?!"

"Middle, yeah? Got it!"

"Huh? Wait, I didn't agree to that!"

The person himself doesn't seem to notice, but Kirishima Eijirou is a dangerous man. On top of being inarguably optimistic, he has the nerve to get anything done when he's motivated and confident. Also, he has the patience of a saint if Bakugou were to make comparison. If not, he wouldn't be able to succeed every time he persistently invited the blond anywhere, completely ignoring the other's refusal. To make it worse, he always has a way to make Bakugou go along with it naturally, or not (there are times when provocation and such are needed).

Kirishima laughed away while calming Bakugou down. Look at that carefree smile, Bakugou thought. He seriously wondered how this person before him could be that nonchalant.

Kirishima confessed to Bakugou and he made it clear that he demanded an answer. Bakugou on the other hand, was nowhere near ready to give him one, hence why he have no idea how to face the redhead. But unknowingly to him, Kirishima waited on his door the next morning like usual, greeted him, and walked to the school with him, carrying on their usual daily conversations. Almost nothing had changed. And that's what worried Bakugou the most.

Now that he knew their feelings are mutual, Bakugou became weirdly conscious of Kirishima. He began to see every little thing that didn't matter before reflecting Kirishima's overflowing love for him. It was glaringly obvious, in the eyes of any spectator. Just like what he often made fun of Todoroki and Deku. Now it happened to him. Yet he still wouldn't admit karma being a bitch to him on that.

Even so, Kirishima didn't rush him to answer to his confession. Nor did he bring up anything about it. It was as though he was telling Bakugou he had no doubt. He was certain Bakugou has the same feelings as him. He doesn't mind how long Bakugou take. He could wait, because Bakugou would surely give him an answer.

However, Bakugou can't promise him that.

"I'm looking forward to the day." Kirishima flashed him a smile, so sweet and affectionate it could melt one's heart.

"Tch." The most honest respond he could afford. "Do as you like."

"Yeah, I will!"

Bakugou turned away to hide the thin line on his lips that curled into a smile as well, before the disaster that came next wiped it off his face completely.

"Ei-chan!"

Bakugou didn't react at first since he recognized neither the name-calling nor the voice of the callers. But he eventually spun his head around when he heard Kirishima exclaiming.

"Hey, bro, it's been a while!"

"Yeah, it has! Are you really Ei-chan? You look so different! That your high school debut?"

"Stop that!"

Laughter and some fist bumping filled in the gaps between their exchanges. Bakugou looked at the dark-haired boy around their age in uniform different from theirs. It was not hard to guess that he must be Kirishima's friend back in middle school. They were having a blast in their little reunion, talking about the old days and how their respective high school lives were like.

"Anyway, is that your friend, Ei-chan?" the boy finally pointed at Bakugou after forgetting their surroundings in the heat of the moment.

The redhead's eye followed his finger and beamed. "Oh, he's Bakugou!"

"Eh, the one who won at sport festival?"

Bakugou scowled at the mention of the event that granted him his unwanted victory. "Huh?!"

He flinched and turned back to Kirishima in an instant, whispering carefully. "What? Did I say something wrong?"

"Haha, no. He's got an odd temper, but he's a good guy though!"

"For real?" He took a look at Bakugou once more before giving up. "Ei-chan, you really can befriend anyone, huh? That's amazing, I tell you."

"Friend, huh?" Kirishima said in a low voice.

"Hmm, what?"

"Nah, it's nothing. By the way, what are you doing here?"

"Oh, that's right." A grin grew on his face. "Actually I'm waiting for my girlfriend~!"

"Whoa, you have one already?"

Now he sheepishly laughed. "Yes, yes. And man, it wasn't easy! I'm just really glad she finally accepts me."

Bakugou stood a few steps away, giving them some spaces and waited. But he was growing more and more impatient with every second passing. How long was Kirishima going to take chattering with this extra guy. He had been listening, not on purpose, and waiting for them to say the parting words but it still didn't come.

"Ah, there she is! Wait, Ei-chan, I'll introduce you guys."

Great, now the conversation would prolong again.

"Shiratori, here!"

Bakugou didn't turn around. He didn't dare to. He had heard of the name before. He hopelessly wished he was wrong, that it couldn't be the person was thinking of. It must be a coincidence. But somewhere in his heart, he knew that he might be right after all.

"I'm sorry for being late!"

He was almost sure now.

"No sweats! I just arrived too! By the way, this is my friend, Kirishima. Kirishima, this is Shiratori. And that's..."

Kirishima took the initiative to introduce Bakugou himself. "Ah, that's my frie—"

"Eh? Ba-Bakugou-kun..?"

All eyes turned to Shiratori at once, including the said blond. The moment his red eyes locked with the girl's amber ones, both of them froze. Shiratori's face turned as pale as her flowing long, white hair. "W-Why… why are you here…?"

The girl standing less than 3 meters away from Bakugou was undoubtedly someone he knows. One he shouldn't have forgotten. Shiratori was the girl who was an inch away from being in a relationship with him. The girl he pushed away. The girl he had hurt in the past.

And at that, Bakugou realized. Him being in a relationship is a mistake he shouldn't ever commit.

"Eh, do you know each other?" said the dark-haired boy.

"What's wrong, Bakugou?" concern was evident in Kirishima's voice. He seemed to have sense something abnormal in the air between the two, but Bakugou's mind was too occupied at the moment to pay him any.

The blond stared at the girl, his brows furrowed. He scrunched his face, searching for the voice in his throat and the words on his mouth. He couldn't find any. Then as if telling him it's useless for him to even try, Shiratori turned to her boyfriend.

"I'm not feeling so well. Sorry, but I'll leave first."

"What? Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, I'm fine." She forced an energetic smile, but her voice still wavered.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, of course!"

"Should I take you home?"

"No! It's… I'm fine, really." She started to break and when her eyes accidentally met Bakugou's once again, she lost it. "See you tomorrow." She blurted inaudibly and ran off to the opposite direction in a flash.

"Shiratori?!" he freaked out and tagged along almost immediately. "Sorry, Ei-chan, I'll contact you later!"

Kirishima could only wave in response after the two of them was gone. He turned around and was just about to ask Bakugou what just occurred when the other ran away as well.

"I'm going back."

"Huh, what?"

The blond didn't even wait for him and walked away, head hanging low.

"Where are you going, man?" Kirishima asked, following closely behind.

"Back to the dorm."

"Aren't we going shopping?"

"Go by yourself."

"What? Why do you suddenly change your mind?"

This time, Bakugou didn't answer. He kept walking, increasing his speed little by little.

"Hey, are you listening?"

Faster, and faster, until he started dashing. Kirishima couldn't bear not to pace up as well and grabbed Bakugou's hand, stopping him from going any further.

"Don't run away!"

Both of them fell into silence, catching their breath for a short while. Bakugou didn't try to break free, but was still unwilling to turn around. The redhead ran out his patience and opened his mouth, before closing it again when he heard the other mumbling.

"…dn't change…"

"Huh?"

"It didn't change, bastard!" He slapped away Kirishima's hand. Had he turned around, he still wouldn't look at Kirishima in the eyes. "Nothing has ever changed from the start. My feelings… anything between you and me… even me, myself. Fucking nothing." _Even the fact that I'm just a weakling._ "From back then too…" _All I do is just messing things up. If I don't do anything…_ "…nothing will change too from now on."

Kirishima's hand was left hanging in the air. He stood there, tongue-tied as he listened. Noticing the chance, the blond quickly escaped before Kirishima could try to catch him again.

Bakugou Katsuki raising his voice was nothing extraordinary. He shouted at the top of his lungs. Him using harsh words weren't anything unusual either. Even so, Kirishima, as if paralyzed, he could only watch, unable to say anything back or even react when he realized one thing. Was he rejected?

However it didn't hit him until blond had long left that he started to feel the ache creeping up his chest. Kirishima could hardly understand half of what Bakugou blabbered. One thing he knew for sure was that, Bakugou implied there was no chance for them together. This was on a whole different level from when he decided to give up himself and pretend to only be best friends with Bakugou. He was rejected, head on, without knowing the reason why. No, maybe the reason didn't matter. Or did it? He honestly didn't know. All he knew right then was he felt like his heart is being torn to pieces.

Though quite ironically, drowned in his own sadness, Kirishima failed to pay any heed to the pained expression drawn over Bakugou's face at that very moment.

The redhead crouched down slowly. His left fist reaching up to where his heart is, beating it continuously, as though by doing so would lessen the aching. Tears accumulated in the corner of his red eyes, blurring his vision. As he blinked, the first teardrop fell and disappeared on the ground. "Why…" He sobbed. "Why is it back to square one again?"

* * *

 **I bet some of you might curse me**  
 **you thought they're gonna have a happy ending already?**  
 **hoho not that easy, ferguso**  
 **(excuse me for trashing with the meme trending in my country)**  
 **so *clears throat* for those who've forgotten, Shiratori is an OC mentioned in chapter 2 that I made up to make things complicated lmao**  
 **i hope this isn't too much, or too much is good?**  
 **well pls continue hoping this will end soon cuz i cant wait too**

 **Anyway, thanks for reading~**  
 **Feedback?**


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